How I heard the news: On April 1, 2015, I woke up late morning (like at 10 AM or so) and, as I do pretty much every morning, I check on the Beatles' Wives & Girls Facebook page. It was the day to change the header and profile picture to Linda McCartney as she had passed away in April. Usually April was Linda's tribute month. Facebook was done. Then off to Instagram for Beatles' Wives & Girls I went to do Picture of the Day featuring, once again, Linda but as a goofy funny picture as it was April Fool's Day. I saw Julian's picture of Cynthia with candles and I thought 'Oh how sweet!', never did I thought that it was In Memory kind of pictures until I saw a comment about her being dead. Wait a minute....I had already posted the Linda goofy picture up and.... I checked twitter and typed in Cynthia's name in the search. I had hoped that the Cynthia Lennon is dead thing was a horrible April Fool's joke, that maybe, just maybe, something was going on. Sure enough, I saw Cynthia's death announcement. The final reality was Julian's memorial page he had set up for his mother. I was just shocked. Immediately, while my hands started to shake, I went back to the Beatles' Wives & Girls social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) to change everything from Linda to Cynthia. Apparently, Cynthia had died that morning after a short battle with cancer. Just exactly one week before her only son's birthday. Ouch. Also she died on the same day as John Lennon's dad Alfred too. But it's Julian's birthday without his mother for the first time that made it really sad.
Just when I finally came to terms of thinking Robin Williams and death going together, now I have to come to terms with Cynthia and death going together and at the moment, it hasn't gelled together. I know she's gone. The reality grew more and more on April 1st when May Pang, Yoko, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Olivia Harrison released statements in honor of Cynthia. I wouldn't say that Cynthia's death kicked me in the gut like Robin's death did. She was 75 when she died and she hadn't really been making any public appearances since 2013 at Julian's White Feather Foundation gala after her husband's death. I figured something was up but was more so thinking that she's done with the public eye. I also thought that maybe Cynthia would materialized here and there for Julian's big events but far and few in between.
My heart, sympathy, condolences, everything goes out to Julian, her only child. They were really close, they were like two peas in a pod. Now Julian is an orphan. He's the only Beatles' child (at this time of the writing) to have lost two parents. I don't know how this will affect him now. I do believe he will continue doing music and photography but there's his attitude. Life will never be the same for him now as he lost his biggest support system. But then again, perhaps Cynthia's death will have a silver lining too. It's one of those "wait and see" situations.
The First Wife of John Lennon (essay)
Together They Were Forever (poem)
Cynthia Powell was my uncle Tony's sister. My uncle Tony married my auntie Marjorie and Cynthia was a bridesmaid. She brought her boyfriend John Lennon to the wedding. There is a photo of the wedding in her book "John". I am the little lad in short pants in front of John. I was introduced to him with the immortal words, "this is your uncle John, he's in a group and they've made a record".
ReplyDeleteWhen Cynthia died everyone that wrote anything only said nice things about her.
I met her again at my uncle Tony's funeral. She was just a nice pleasant lady.
I have her form prize from Hoylake Parade Secondary (Modern) School a book of Common Prayer dated 1952.
Thank you for your comment. When did your Uncle Tony died? Is their older brother Charles still alive?
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