I was 16 years old, and about to get on a train from the village where I lived in Norfolk to go to London when I heard the news of John’s murder. Like so many other people around the world, I am taken back to that moment every December 8/9.
Of course, John is remembered and thought of every single day of the year, but here are some special memories of that heartbreaking anniversary.
The 30th Anniversary
On October 8, 2010, I was in the Cavern for a special performance by the Mersey Beatles in honour of John, and drove home at about 1.30am on December 9. As I drove past Mendips, I noticed that the light was on in John’s bedroom, and I turned around and went back to take this photo because I thought it was so beautiful.
At the suggestion of his wife, Sylvia, Colin, Hall, the custodian at Mendips, had turned the light on in John’s bedroom as night fell on the evening of December 8. It was still shining the following morning on December 9, the 30th anniversary of the day that the UK woke up to the terrible news from New York.
This has now become a tradition and the light shines every year, reminding us that John’s light will continue to shine forever. At the time, though, there was no publicity or any real attention paid. It was simply a beautiful, private tribute from two people who cared, and I’m so glad that I saw it that night.
It is still the best tribute to John that I’ve ever seen.
The 40th Anniversary
Although for people in the UK, the anniversary of John’s death, 40 years ago, is December 9, in 2020, I wanted to mark the official the official anniversary too. I, along with other volunteers, laid single white roses, representing peace, at some of the places at St Peter’s that were, and are, so important to John.
PHOTOS TO COME
The roses were laid at the peace memorial, on Uncle George’s grave, on the spot in the choir stalls where John sat and, of course, on the spot in the Church Hall where he met Paul on July 6 1957.
And we took a rose and laid it at the Strawberry Field gates, uniting St Peter’s with our friends and neighbours around the corner who also were so important in John’s life.