Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The Beatles


Dear Mom,

Friday night I went with my older sister to see Classical Mystery Tour: A Tribute to The Beatles. The concert was at Powell Hall/St.Louis Symphony.

Mom, did you know I was a Beatles fan? I was too young to be one of the crazed screaming girls, but I found out during the performance that Suzanne belted out screams when she saw The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. Hmmm, can't picture her screaming like a maniac over four hunky guys... you know, back in the day it was a little out there... for her.

Back to The Beatles.  

Martin Herman started the show conducting a full orchestra that played short arrangements of many Beatles’ songs. One flowed right into the other. 

Then the four pretend Beatles -  Jim Owen (John Lennon), Graham Alexander (Paul McCartney), John Brosnan (George Harrison), and Chris Camilleri (Ringo Starr) walked on stage. I thought I was seeing and hearing The Beatles... down to the mannerisms and accents. Pinch me. I waited for screams.

I couldn't help but remember my own Beatles’ story. 

My kids were 5, 7, and 9 years old. We had gone to the store for something. They asked, “Mom, can we have some money?”

“For what?”

They all giggled. “We can’t tell you.”

A single parent and pretty much living at poverty level, money wasn’t something I doled out. Especially not knowing what they might be spending it on.

One of them wised up. “It’s for Mother’s Day.” 

But this was all the more reason for me not to hand over the dough.

“Pleeeease.” All three anxious faces staring at me.

“Okay.” I sighed, rolled my eyes, and handed over the precious bills, wondering what kind of junk I'd end up with.

“You can’t look!” What am I supposed to do, walk around the store with a blindfold? Somehow they pulled it off and seriously, I had no idea what they purchased.

On that Mother’s Day, Casey, Jessica and Rita huddled together and giggled as I opened my present... a poster of The Beatles. This poster...


All three shouted, “It’s The Beatles!” (DUR)

You would’ve thought The Beatles were their favorite. They jumped around like goofballs.

I had the poster framed. It hangs on the wall in my creative space. My heart skips a beat every time I look at it—and not because of The Beatles—it’s those three little stinkers I think about, their excited faces, and how they surprised me.

Listening to the pretend Beatles, I was blown away. But not near as much on the day I opened that Beatles poster.

***
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14 comments:

  1. What a sweet story. And I'm curious...Which one was your favorite Beatle? (There's only one right answer, in my opinion. ;)

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  2. I remember when the kids gave you the poster and was so impressed. It's neat we both are Beatles fans in spite of our age difference; and it's even more fun to be fans of your kids!

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  3. That's such a sweet story, Lynn. I love that you still have the poster hanging on the wall!

    Pat
    Critter Alley

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  4. Oh, Lynn, this is the sweetest story! I love it. I remember when our good babysitter Sheryl decided to help us get a present for our Mom, who worked so hard. We picked out a stuffed parrot on in a brass cage. Mom hung it up over the dining room table.

    You are so sweet, and you passed it on to your sweet babies. I bet your Mom loved this letter.

    Hugs and thanks for stopping by,

    Kathy M.

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  5. HAH! YES!

    I was surprised to hear we were that young when we gave you that poster. What the!? Have almost 20 years gone by since then?! I don't believe it!

    We were pretty much amazing huh. :)

    You know, for some reason I always thought when you opened it you were like "The hell? Why would I want a Beatles poster, I'm not really THAT much of a fan." I kinda thought it was a silly gift after the fact.

    And hey, even if the object itself was... this story shows if anything it was our action that mattered, and STILL matters.

    AMAZING!

    I love it Mom. Thanks for sharing this one. Hehehehe!

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  6. That was so sweet of them, such a cute story! How great that you still have it and that it hangs on the wall of your creative space :)

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  7. They love you, Yea Yea Yea! Being a huge fan of the Beatles, and teaching my two children every verse to every song, I related to this!

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  8. What a sweet, sweet post. :) We're headed to Louisiana tomorrow where I get to see my sweet little face. Can't wait. She's the worst part of living in Oklahoma!

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  9. Love the post. What a touching story. Your kids do rock!

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  10. What a touching story, Lynn! Quick - you have one more day to get it into Chicken Soup's book on parenthood...!

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  11. Hey Lynn. How cute of your kids to give you such a special gift. But of course...you certainly deserve special gifts! :)

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  12. How sweet of your kids and how wonderful to have this special memory! I was a teen when the Beatles came to the US...oh we went crazy over them! Remember our month of letters? I got a card from one of the ladies I had written...yesterday. The fun keeps going! Hugs!

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  13. Love this post, Lynn ; )
    I am a huge fan of the Beatles' music.. and have gotten my kids to like them, too. My oldest son's favorite song is the one my daughter calls, "The Scary song" - we can't listen to it with her in the car. Guess which one...?

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  14. I remember that day haha, what a good sport. It's weird to think that as far back as I can remember I knew The Beatles. Heh

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Thanks for commenting. I don't always comment back, but I do appreciate it.