All this mortgage stress that I’ve been dealing with has led to a surge of adrenaline. I’ve been getting up earlier, running faster, and sleeping restlessly. Even taking the time to write is challenging, as I continue to be distracted with money worries. Taxes are my biggest concern since they directly affect Medicare healthcare costs. As annual income rises by selling off IRA savings, Medicare Part B payments escalate. Instead of FICA that used to come out of my paychecks, I’m now faced with higher Medicare costs. Uncle Sam gets you one way or the other. It’s just something else for retirees like me, Ringo, and Paul to worry about. 

I try my best to relax with the latest James Patterson novel, The Last Days of John Lennon. The first part of the book focuses on the early days of The Beatles rather than the assassin, Mark David Chapman. I was never a Beatles fanatic, but did once have a wig that I bought at the local dime store. Sadly, I never got to see them together as a group, just individual performances by Paul, Ringo, John, and George. I was just twelve years old when “Love Me Do” hit the U.S. charts. Three different drummers were featured on three different versions when it was first recorded at EMI Studios on Abbey Road in London: Pete Best, Ringo Starr, and session drummer Andy White. 

“Love Me Do” was a difficult transitional period for the group with the firing of Pete Best in favor of Ringo Starr. Pete was loved in Liverpool for his good looks but not as much for his talent. “Pete Best Forever…Ringo never” was the initial reaction to the change by the fans. However, Ringo added the chemistry, personality, and skill that vaulted them into fame. Plus, Pete had curly locks not befitting the Beatle image. Articles reported that the move was consensual, but the truth is that it wasn’t Pete’s choice, the dirty deed done on August 16, 1962 by manager Brian Epstein. The rest is history and left for me yet to read in this book.  

When I went to London, I wanted to go to “Sticky Fingers,” the Bill Wyman owned café instead of Abby Road. My British allegiance was clearly more for The Rolling Stones than The Beatles. The next time will be my Beatles tour. We did visit the touring exhibit when it came to Portland, where I played on Ringo’s drum set. This was where I became a little more fascinated with their history. I’ve also been by The Dakota residence on the outskirts of Central Park where Lennon was shot, and to the nearby Strawberry Fields memorial nearby. His widow Yoko Ono was involved in the design, as she continues to capitalize on his fame at 87-years old. They were married only eleven years when he died in 1980.

It’s been forty-years since Lennon’s death on December 8th, 1980 – sixty days after his 40th birthday. His first wife was Cynthia Powell, who he divorced after six years. Lennon, the true founder of The Beatles, was the second oldest and first to be married of the group. Julian Lennon was their son and a direct inspiration for three songs: “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” (1967), “Hey Jude” (1968), and “Good Night” (1968). Julian was harshly outspoken about his father’s hypocrisy regarding “Peace and Love.” His half-brother, Sean Lennon, was born to Yoko twelve years later. 

The songwriting team of  Lennon-McCartney published 180 jointly credited songs. They met on July 6, 1957 at a local church fete when John was playing with his skittle group the Quarrymen. Younger Paul then joined the band at John’s request. George Harrison was an even younger classmate of McCartney’s at the Liverpool Institute, meeting for the first time on the school bus and bonding over music. Harrison died in 2001 at the age of 58 due to lung cancer. Two down at tragically young ages, but 80-year old Sir Ringo and Sir Paul at 78 still rock on.