Well, I’m certain had I been a young teen in the 60s in England, I’d have been one of the many fainting girls at a Beatles concert.  Thank goodness I was just an innocent, sheltered little kid in the U.S. It’s too late for me now to be in that crazed state of mind, so I can look on them with sort of a wonder and awe at how big they became.  And a sadness at what fame does to people and friends.  Not to say they are not still great musicians, but just to say I wish John Lennon had not been killed and that George Harrison had not died of cancer and that they could be reunited in all the joy they had in the early days. 

Anyway, here’s a page that has a lot of Beatles stuff going on at You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/user/excessaccess

I have not checked out all content on this page, so proceed at your own risk.  Also, there’s a lot of bad stuff out there everywhere, so proceed on to where ever you go at your own risk!

So, yeah, I have to admit I’ve been looking at more Beatles clips.  I am normally not spending time on line like this, but I’ve been talking to my mom about my dad - I miss him – and I guess it’s like remembering him, in a way.  He had SO MANY albums.  He loved music. 

This clip of Rain shows so clearly why people fell in love with John Lennon. 

I heard Hey Jude coming home from work tonight.  It was late and dark and the roads were pretty empty.  It’s one of my thinking times.  Listening to the Beatles, my mind went back to something I had not thought of for a long time.  

My dad died two years ago at 70.  It’s hard to see our parents age and die. My best memories of him are of a young, strong man who could take care of me and my sister no matter what… Memories of a seasoned, good-looking veteran coming home from Vietnam with his beret hanging neatly to one side.

He was the coolest dad ever. When I was in kindergarten my dad came to pick me up early one day. He announced to my teachers and the rest of the class that he was taking me to see Yellow Submarine. Do you know how cool I felt?  Can you just imagine what my (then) young teachers thought? My dad, as I mentioned before, was quite good looking. If only he had been swinging by to pick them up.  Swoon.  And how many preschoolers get to go see Yellow Submarine anyway? 

My dad had already bought me a copy of Meet The Beatles to play on my little record player in my room, so I knew exactly who they were.

Anyway, to this day I love a lot of the Beatles’ music. One of my first memories of my daddy is his voice.  It was on a reel-to-reel tape recording he sent to my mom from Vietnam to play for me. I was only about 3 years old.  I have no idea where he made the tape or how, but he felt desperate to get a message to us.  I had gotten into something before he shipped out on one of his tours and he had spanked me. Nothing major to me.  It was probably just a swift pop on the rear-end, which I’m sure I needed.  I was only 3, and daddy was such a kind dad, it had to be almost nothing.  But I imagine to him – being away from me and mom and wondering if he’d live to come home – it was the most horrible thing he could have done before he shipped out.  I don’t even remember it. But on this tape – and I do remember the tape - he was talking directly to me. I could hear The Beatles’ hit Yesterday playing in the background. Daddy told me, when he got home – if he made it home - he would never, ever spank me again. He did make it home. And he kept his word, though I probably needed one now and then!  Whenever I hear Yesterday, I think of how the words must have affected my dad in his situation. 

I saw this T-shirt on line tonight and it makes me think of that trip Dad and I made to see Yellow Submarine.

The Beatles Yellow Submarine Liverpool T-Shirt

I really like this shirt.  I think I’ll buy it as one of my work shirts for the bakery. 

I miss you dad.