The Dakota

Earlier this week was the 40th anniversary of the death of John Lennon. 

I remember hearing he had been shot outside his home on the Upper West Side of NYC. It was a neighborhood with which I was familiar. Many years later I lived within ten blocks or so in an apartment I sublet for a short while. During that stretch I would often find myself walking by the Dakota, craning my neck to see into the courtyard I saw on the news that night in December of 1980. What if, I would wonder. What if......

John Lennon was a cultural icon, a musical genius, and a spirited advocate for peace. Apparently he came by this rightly, encouraged by his mother to value things our society often doesn't. 

"When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life." - John Lennon