A rotten day for Beatle aficionados...

And that day is December 8.

Yes, we all know John Lennon was murdered on December 8, 1980. Maybe a mostly unknown fact is Linda McCartney was diagnosed with breast cancer on December 8, 1995. My father passed away December 8, 2006. I include my dad, because I am a lifetime Beatles fan and McCartney fanatic.

December 8. When John was shot, I remember being woken up by the phone and my mother, galloping up the stairs to tell me. How odd, that this would be the exact date my father would pass away as well. As we were driving down to Long Island the night of December 8, 2006 after my father has passed away, it then occured to me that now my dad and John Lennon were forever linked. I hadn't made the connection to Linda yet.

Makes me wonder why lies ahead for December 8, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010......

I liked Linda. Even though she married the absolute biggest crush of mine imaginable. Once I got over that fact, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting both Paul and Linda on February 11, 1993, as absolutely close you can get to the anniversary of the Beatles setting foot on American soil without planning it out (Feb. 9, 1964). I found her FAR more pretty in person than in photos, charming, friendly and just great. Paul? Well, a highlight of my entire life on this planet. Nuff said.

One of the greatest little packet of words I've read written about Linda and the never ending John/Paul camp wars, comes from a blog entitled Tomato Nation. And this is it:

"...Music Nazis love to talk about the Beatles by framing the discussion in Lennon- versus-McCartney terms - Lennon, the genius, the artistic visionary, the tragic figure; McCartney, the pretty face, the bubblegum pop hack, the poseur. Having reached the flawed and unoriginal conclusion that John Lennon represented the heart and soul of the Beatles, the self-styled alternarati then train the burning laser of their contempt upon Wings. "Cheesy," they remark with their usual devastating insight, or "lite-FM much?" For a finale, they remark derisively that Linda sucked musically, and besides, she broke up the Beatles and pussy-whipped Paul into becoming a vegetarian. Well, pardon me while I bust out the alphabet blocks and spell "w-h-a-t-e-v-e-r." I don’t know exactly what proportion of ingredients made the Beatles so wonderful, but I suspect it had something to do with the whole band coming together (so to speak) at a certain time and creating a certain sound - together. I don’t disagree with the premise that John had a more cutting-edge sensibility than Paul, but John invited Paul into the band to begin with, so perhaps we should trust his judgment. As for Linda, she didn’t exactly rock out, but she got it done, more than we can say for the self-important shrieking hairball John selected as his soulmate - or for Big John at the end of his life, when he slept all day and sent Yoko’s secretary out on drug runs at night while making collages from his toenail clippings...."

Brilliant shit. My Beatle Wig goes off to you!

If you're a Beatle fan, you KNOW it's all broken up into 'she's a John' or 'he's a Paul'. We used to attend Beatle Conventions every single year. It was the highlight, used tax refunds to fund it, arrive on Thursday and leave Monday for a Fri-Sat-Sun event. It was like being in heaven. I sure do hope heaven is arranged in a way where you can choose your room, so to speak. I want to be with all the Beatle fans, mainly 'Pauls'. That aside, boy you should see some of the characters at these conventions! Of COURSE, everyone is wearing Beatle t shirts, denoting their favorite album or movie or Beatle. But some people really take the biscuit as certifiable nutcases. MAKING themselves look like a Beatle of their choice, shrieking like one of the Fabs are actually present, wearing enough memorabilia that would weigh anyone's head to the floor, etc.

There is a TV movie entitled The Linda McCartney Story which I have seen many times. But quite obviously it seems to mean more now. Paul, being the hero of my life, and here's the hero of HIS life, Linda, suffering and dying of breast cancer, same as his mum. Now I have it. And here we are; John, Paul, Linda, me, my dad. All sharing December 8.

I watched it again about an hour ago, and I gotta tell ya kids, it depressed the shit out of me. I KNEW I shouldn't watch it, 'cause I know how it turns out, as do we all. It just made me think with all their money, they could not save her. They went all over the world for treatment, experimental treatment, massive doses of chemo, which could have killed her, removal of the mass, getting BETTER, then suddenly it spreads to her liver and she's dead in a month. Once you have it you never know when it's gonna come back, or what's ahead.

I can hear all of you in my head. You're thinking too much, Keri. Well, ya, guess I am. Watching Linda, thinking, maybe I'm gonna be dead in a year, should I make a will, even though we have jack squat and hardly a family left?


In cancer news, well, there is no news. Yet. I see the oncologist Monday to see what he thinks of the latest turn of events. Being, that there is microscopic cancer in 2 nodes, maybe more, and I don't have clear margins yet. I really don't know what he'll say.

My doctors made me think once I finished chemo, rested, had the surgery, then rads, I would be good to go. Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech go the brakes of the recovery train. Now I'm stuck between surgery and rads. Do I fight it and say, screw the nodes, take more out of the breast and see if we get clear margins? Do I go absolutely over the wall, as 3 friends have suggested and have both breasts removed - just in case - to make sure I get all cancer cells, plus remove every little bean like node they can find? Will I think I did the right thing later when I'm boobless, and my arm suffers from the effects of having so many nodes removed? WIll I regret NOT doing the drastic when I find out it spread? IS microscopic node involvement tragic? Some have told me it isn't. Even the surgeon said that, although I find it odd if you know you have even a speck of it, why would you leave it in your body?

Enough. Off to the Warrewnsburg Townwide Sale tomorrow, no more cancer talk till Monday.