Today John Lennon would have been 80 years old. It’s hard to believe that he’s been gone almost 40 years which is exactly how long he was on this earth.

I was a kid of the 1960s and 70s. Which means I grew up listening to The Beatles. Not only did grow up with them, I adored them. I knew every word to every song, I had the obligatory crush on Paul, “the cute one”, and I had all of The Beatles records, headbands, bubblegum cards and every other promotional item. Too bad I don’t have any of those things now. Who knew back then how much they’d be worth now?

After my big crush on Paul, John Lennon became my favorite. I’m not sure why, maybe it was his bad boy image, maybe it was his singing or guitar playing. For whatever reason, John was my favorite for quite awhile. And as a big fan I knew a lot of things about John. Like that he spent a “Lost Weekend” with May Pang, who was an assistant to John and Yoko. This was all Yoko’s idea. Anyway, the “Lost Weekend” lasted about a year and a half I believe. So I definitely knew the name May Pang. Fast forward a few decades. 

I got to know May Pang about 9 years ago when my boyfriend Bobby was invited to play in the band at a party at her house. Even though I knew about May’s relationship with John Lennon, I didn’t know much about her as a person. She is smart, talented, beautiful inside and out and would have been successful and well known even if she’d never met John Lennon. May has her own podcast, designs jewelry, writes books and the list goes on and on.

We’ve been to many parties over the last seven years with the “Pang Gang” and met some great people. We have formed long lasting close friendships with many of them. And I am so happy to have gotten to know May Pang the person instead of May Pang the woman who spent time with John Lennon.

Thinking of John Lennon today and remembering all the great music and how he helped form who I am today. Happy 80th, John, wherever you are. And thanks for the memories.

 

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