Commemorating John Lennon's 70th Birthday, October 9, 2010

In February ,1964, the Beatles appeared with the Queen of England in an issue of Life magazine. Spellbound, I stared at John, Paul, George, and Ringo for hours and fell instantly and madly in love with them. Not yet 13, I somehow knew, early on, that the Beatles were destined to become legends. I even bet my mother that they were going to be more famous than Elvis.

Of course, I didn't realize at the time that nobody could be more famous than somebody who was already known around the world, but my prediction proved to be quite accurate, because even now, more and more Beatles fans are becoming younger and younger, as well as older and older.

Little did I know, though, what a whirlwind of excitement I would be riding throughout my teenage years. The same month I drooled over the Life magazine issue, I sat riveted to my television set, watching the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show February 9th, hiding tears so my family wouldn't make fun of me for being so emotional.

Only months before the Ed Sullivan presentation, President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated and the world as we knew it had changed from one of peaceful ignorance to one of confusion and chaos. The Beatles provided an element of joy in the midst of sadness.

The following year, 1965, my friend for life, Denise, invited me to go to the Beatles concert with her in August on Chicago's south side. All the way down the I-95 expressway, we saw other Beatles fans holding signs in car windows, letting everybody know exactly where they were heading.

Actually, they were more like Beatles maniacs than Beatles fans. And when we reached White Sox Stadium, we soon learned just how maniacal a bunch of Beatles fans could be.

The older teenagers next to us told us that if we promised not to behave like screaming teenagers, we could borrow their binoculars. We sat upright, lifted our eyebrows and chins, and - maintaining our most mature posture - promised to restrain ourselves.

One hour and fifteen minutes into the frenzy, the Beatles finally emerged. Mania was a precise way to describe the excitement in the bleachers at the stadium during that Beatles concert.

We practically flew out of our seats and started jumping around the benches, hopping up and down, forgetting completely our promise to be well-behaved little Beatles fans. What surprised us was to see the older girls next to us doing exactly the same thing, flailing about like wild children.

The frenzy was so electrically charged and the adrenaline was so extreme, you could almost feel pops of electricity flashing from one person to the next and back and forth to the stage.

I immediately grabbed the binoculars from the girls next to me and stared through the lens at the young men who had grabbed my heart. To see the Beatles up close when I was so far away was one of the most magical moments in my life.

When I felt the girl next to me tugging at the binoculars, I reluctantly returned them to her, but I knew then that what I was witnessing was a phenomenon and I wanted to be more than just a microdot in the crowd. I wanted one of the Beatles to notice me.

Denise and I must have looked like tiny insects to the Beatles (smile), but I was determined to grab their attention. John Lennon was the only one who faced our direction, so I targeted my desire for attention on him.

Everybody at that Beatles concert was waving maniacally, jumping up and down in a crazy dance of euphoria, screaming so loudly nobody could hear the concert. How would I get John Lennon to notice little bitty me?

I looked around the stadium, and I decided that if I wanted to grab John Lennon's attention, I had to move in a way that was different from the way everybody else was moving.

I devised a strategy and engaged Denise in my plan. I asked her to follow my lead as I put my arms above my head. I then crisscrossed my arms over each other in time to the music. Denise and I waved in that manner for an entire song.

At the end of the song, John Lennon looked in our direction, lifted his arms above his head, and crisscrossed them exactly the way we did.

Denise and I grabbed each other and hopped up and down in sheer delight. And in less than a second, everybody in our section was waving back to John the way he waved to us.

Despite the fact that we got lost in a crowd of fans who now crisscrossed their arms the same way we did, that one single gesture remains one of my fondest memories, because the moment John Lennon looked in our direction, the moment John Lennon mimicked our arm movements, John Lennon created one of the most exhilarating moments in my life.

John Lennon noticed us and let us know he noticed us. He may not have seen our faces. He may not have remembered us in a crowd, but on that hot August day in 1965, John Lennon acknowledged two young teenage girls who would carry the memory of that one simple wave beyond his death and throughout our lives.

If I could reach from this world to the next, I would thank John Lennon for acknowledging two young teenagers who tried desperately to grab his attention - and succeeded.

Thank you, John Lennon!

For information on the "Gimme Some Truth" Campaign that commemorates Lennon's 70th birthday, visit John Lennon's web site where "Eight of John Lennon's classic solo albums and other standout recordings have been digitally remastered from his original mixes for a global catalogue initiative commemorating the music legend's 70th birthday, which falls on October 9."

John Lennon's eight digitally remastered albums include:

• John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)
• Imagine (1971)
• Some Time In New York City (1972)
• Mind Games (1973)
• Walls and Bridges (1974)
• Rock 'n' Roll (1975)
• Double Fantasy Stripped Down (2010) / Double Fantasy (1980)
• Milk and Honey (1984)

Launch date of the John Lennon collection worldwide release is scheduled for October 4, 2010 (October 5 in North America).