Memories

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Scientists say certain scents can trigger memories of special moments and times in your past.

I know this to be true, I can smell certain aromas and remember exactly where I was the first time I smelled a  certain item.  Some memories are poignant and other are just brief flashes that pull up a forgotten fragment from my past, one that I believed lost over the years.

But, there is one item that far outweighs the sense of smell.

Music.

How often have  you heard a song and remember exactly what you were doing when you first heard the tune?

Today was one of those days.

In 1980, I was finishing my last year of high school.  I was new to the United States, and my first American school on American soil was a culture shock.  Having been raised overseas, my formative years were spent in DODDs schools where the teachers were stricter, and the fear of God ran along the lines of my father's commander.  If you've never been raised in a military environment, you wouldn't understand.  Life was different back then, perhaps slower, and we lacked the technology that currently invades our day-to-day lives.

I had music, though.  Sleek, shiny LPs and cassettes  filled my room and I couldn't wait to have the latest and greatest.  Among those was one that I would listen to nonstop, the latest by former Beatle, John Lennon.

On this day in 1980, I stood outside my PE class, humming along to the words of his latest song Grow Old With Me. The day was cold, and it was early in the morning.  I shivered as I stood with my classmates, waiting for the class to start.  Soon, sounds of disbelief began to rumble through the line, just before the girl in front of me turned around with startling news.  As word reached the last class member, silence shrouded the line, and tears filled the eyes of more than one student.

John Lennon, the music icon of my era, had just lost his life to an obssessed fan.  He was only 40-years-old when Mark David Chapman shot him four times at close range with a .38-caliber revolver. Lennon, bleeding profusely, was rushed to the hospital but died en route. Chapman had received an autograph from Lennon earlier in the day and voluntarily remained at the scene of the shooting until he was arrested by police.

Never having the chance to grow old, his final refrain of God Bless Us All will linger forever…

Grow Old With Me

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John Lennon: Taken From Us 31 Years Ago Today (wncx.radio.com)
John Lennon: All Together Now (929dave.radio.com)
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Recollections of the Day John Lennon Died (929dave.radio.com)