John's Sisters

John had three half-sisters from his mother and two half-brothers from his father. I already discussed the brothers, David and Robin, in another post (Meet the Lennons- you can check their labels ➡). John's two younger sisters, Julia and Jacqui, have been mentioned a number of times here but here we are, dedicated to the girls.

Let's start with the oldest with an unique situation: Victoria/Ingrid.

Ingrid Pedersen and Yoko at the Dakota, New York City in May of 1999

Victoria Elizabeth Lennon was born on June 15, 1945 an illegitimate child from an affair of Julia Lennon and 'Taffy' Williams while Julia's husband Alfred Lennon was away at sea. Taffy wanted to settle with Julia but refused her son John; Julia said no. When Alfred returned, he offered to raise the baby as his own but Julia refused as he was away often. Julia's eldest sister Mimi Smith refused to raise the child and supported their father for Julia to give the baby up for adoption. With a heavy heart and barely any options, Julia agreed; she was sent away for the remainder of her pregnancy while 4-year-old John spent time with one of his relatives. Victoria was adopted by a Norwegian couple Peder and Margaret Pedersen who lived in Liverpool while Julia assumed they went to Norway and was renamed Lillian Ingrid Maria Pedersen. In 1964, one of John's Aunts told John that he had another sister and he hired private detectives to look for his long-lost sister. Unfortunately, John died in 1980 and never found or met his sister. Meanwhile, in 1966, Ingrid discovered her birth certificate and adoption papers hidden away in her parents' house, realizing that she was John Lennon's sister. She promised her adoptive parents that she wouldn't reach out to her birth family until after their deaths in the 1990s. In 1998, Ingrid, working as a hospital worker, went to the media to reveal herself as Victoria Elizabeth the long lost sister of John. Ingrid went to New York to meet with Yoko and her nephew Sean while her sisters Julia and Jacqui, Cynthia and Julian Lennon, and the Stanley family commented that she was welcome to their family. 

"Jackie and I had always said we'd welcome Victoria into our lives, but felt it could be intrusive to go actively seeking her out. We'd understood that she'd left the country, as her adoptive father was Norwegian. But now it turns out she'd been living in Liverpool, then Hampshire for years. We'd imagined that one day she might pick up the phone, or arrange a quiet first meeting through the usual adoption agency or social work channels. But that's not how it came to be. She came to us through one of the tabloids, which ran a headline to the effect of, 'If anyone knows the whereabouts of John Lennon's sisters... ' But it's not as if we were hiding. Jackie saw the paper in her local supermarket. I was alerted by Paul McCartney's secretary, so it was quite a shock, and rather public. Ingrid has said she didn't want to offend her adoptive mother, so waited until she'd died before seeking out her natural family. I'm looking forward to meeting her, because she's my mother's daughter and I know the situation can't have been easy for her either. Of course, none of us can predict how we'll get on together." 

Julia Baird, 1998

Ingrid, Julia and Jacqui met for the first time at the revealing of John's home 'Mendips' where he lived with his Aunt Mimi of the Blue Heritage Plaque in December of 2000. As far as I know, it's the only encounter. Although Julia recently revealed that she did talk to Ingrid on the phone; Ingrid has an open invitation to reach out to her family at any time. It is unknown at this time if Ingrid met with Julian, although she did say she wanted to. On another note: Julia is, not sure the proper word for it... flabbergasted? Puzzling? Well, she noticed that John, Jacqui, and herself looked very much like their mother- you could tell they're related while Ingrid must favor her biological father.

Julia and John at a family gathering in the Summer of 1949

After Victoria's adoption, Julia met John Albert Dykins, she called him Bobby as she already has a John in her life (John called him Twitchy). Not long after Bobby moved in, her family were outraged by the scandalous move (a married woman living in sin with another man), her eldest sister Mimi basically reported Julia to child services (the first one didn't see the problem, the second one did) and John went to live with her. Julia had two children with Bobby: Julia was born on March 5, 1947 and Jacqueline Gertrude was born on October 26, 1949. They lived in a nice family neighborhood, typical family with John visiting as often as possible. Their mother Julia was visiting Mimi one early evening on July 15, 1958; John was at Julia's house with Bobby, his mother, Julia, and Jacqui. Little Julia was bike riding with her friends when she saw her mother leave and getting on the bus… she must have had a subconscious premonition that she would never see her mother again as Julia started peddling after the bus but stopped when the bus got too fast. After her visit, Julia went to walk to the bus stop but was hit by a car driven by an off-duty drunken police officer. John's friend Nigel Whalley had just a few moments before speaking to Julia while stopping by to see John (did she tell him that John was at her house?) and heard the horrible tragedy. Nigel rushed to her but it was too late, Julia died instantly. Mimi also heard the accident and rushed over. The ambulance was called and came, transporting her body to Sefton General Hospital. A policeman came to Julia's house to notify her death. Both girls were already sleeping, so Bobby's mother stayed for them while he and John went to see Julia in the morgue. Bobby cried uncontrollably. Julia and Jacqui were not told of their mother's death. They were immediately whisked away to Aunt Mater's house and were told their mother was in the hospital ill; meanwhile, Julia's family went to court against Bobby for Aunt Harrie to have legal guardianship of the girls. It took months before Uncle Norman Birch (Harrie's husband) had it with the secret and told the girls that their mother died, much to Harrie's dismay. I already briefly discussed Julia and Jacqui's childhood from living with their mother until her death to living with Aunt Harrie (read here as well as John's blossoming romance with Cynthia. However, here's some additional quotes for recap and to help with the story: 

"He gave us 2 shillings, 6 shillings. That was a fortune! Then he was disappearing with Cynthia into the long grass, and we rushed off to the sweets shop."

Julia Baird, 2019

"We saw John less because he’d gone off to art school in Liverpool, thanks to Mimi, but he’d come around still and sneak in the window to use the telephone. He also started bringing his girlfriend Cynthia Powell around to watch television and drink tea in the evenings. Then suddenly he was married and a baby arrived, John Charles Julian. We sometimes looked after Julian while John and Cynthia went on out."

Julia Baird, 1985

"Well, we knew he was on stage all the time. I talked to Paul about it later. I remember going around to Mendips to give Cynthia the downstairs, so that she could stay there with Julian as a young, young baby waiting for John. John had gone off to Hamburg and he came back and I went to get them tea and toast, to make them tea and toast, and walked in with it. John was just like comatose. Cynthia sat up with Julia. I sat on a bed. We chatted. We drank tea. We ate the toast. John didn't move. They were exhausted. Since then, when people say 'you made it very quickly,' or other people have just said 'oh, overnight sensation.' Paul said it right, 'we did 800 hours of rehearsal in Hamburg before we got to the Cavern.'"

Julia Baird, 2016

"The whole thing with John was that his feet rarely touched the ground at that time and he was away with the group a great deal. He had very little time then to give Julian, never mind his sisters. He was a very young man, and also green. We were married six years, but the amount of time we actually spent together was much less. But the girls would visit us in Weybridge and we'd just go out where they wanted, shop and have fun. We were very much involved because I was in love with John and therefore also loved his family. It was as simple as that. Both coming from the north of England - I'm from Cheshire - I think family meant a lot more to us. As for money, well my view is that when you have it you enjoy it and let others relish it too. When you haven't got it, you work for it." 

Cynthia, 1998

Jacqui and Julia, 1950

In late 1963, John, Cynthia, and Julian went to move to London. By 1964, John treated his family to the Liverpool premiere of A Hard Day's Night (Cynthia didn't go… don't know why?) and when John and Cynthia's college friend Helen Anderson opened her own fashion storefront, John and Cynthia treated Julia and Jacqui some treats of coats and hats.

"Although John and Cynthia had abandoned art college for Beatle and baby reasons, some of their contemporaries had finished their courses. One of their friends, Helen Anderson, had studied fashion and design and had recently opened a workshop and cutting room, over a shop in Bold Street in the city centre. This was the same Helen Anderson who had famously leaned forward in an art class in 1958 and affectionately stroked John’s hair. Cynthia, watching, had felt jealous and realized at that moment that she was in love with John. We went to the workshop the next day as promised- John, Cynthia, Harrie, David, Jackie, and me. Nanny was there with Michael too."

Julia Baird, 2019

John and Cynthia (mostly Cynthia) would arrange Julia and Jacqui's visits with Aunt Harrie. Julia and Jacqui traveled from Liverpool to London on the plane for the first time, paid by John. Now, there's been a conflicting issue… you see, Julia's memories of seeing The Beatles live at Finsbury Park's Astoria Theatre have been consistent and it was during their Christmas Shows from December 24, 1963 until January 11, 1964. But there's one problem: during that time, John wasn't living in Weybridge then. He was living at Emperor's Gate! The next time The Beatles performed at Astoria Theatre was on November 1, 1964, so maybe that's what Julia meant? Or was it on December 11, 1965? By that time, John was living in Weybridge, although he was on the United Kingdom tour for both. I don't know how long Julia and Jacqui stayed with John and Cynthia. Both those dates were close to the Christmas holidays. Well, since Julia consistently says Weybridge and George Harrison was with Pattie Boyd at the time, let's say November of 1964. Although I think Julia and Jacqui may have visited the second time in February in 1965 while the Beatles recorded Ticket to Ride (according to Julia, although granted she sounded unsure as she said 'I think' in an interview) or October of 1965 as Cynthia wrote in her John book that she took the girls to Abbey Road Studios while they recorded Day Tripper. 

Cynthia, Aunt Harrie Birch, and Jacqui at Aunt Mimi's home in Bournemouth, 1966

“When they began to get the house straighter, John arranged for Jacqui and me to go down for a few days. We loved the idea of being with John again at long last. It was an added bonus when he sent us air tickets: we'd never been on a plane before...That short holiday with John at Kenwood meant a lot of Jacqui and me. It was great being a family together again. Fantastic though the house was, we'd have just been happy if it had been the gardener's cottage. The important thing was being with John. We had a family life at Harrie's of course. But it wasn't the same as having our own proper family, like John, with us. It was almost as if Mummy might come waltzing in through Cynthia's kitchen hole in the wall with a trayful of scones straight from the oven, humming a nonsense tune. On the sitting room floor were some bulging canvas sacks which really intrigued us. Cynthia explained that they contained John's fan mail and invited us to have a look. We spent several hours totally absorbed reading through some of the thousands of letters. They were a fascinating insight into how passionately the fans felt about the Beatles. Nearly all of them were from girls. I think Cynthia enjoyed our company. She often spent long weeks of her own when John was away touring or spending endless hours recording at the EMI Studios. It must have been lonely for her in that house, surrounded by all the luxury and having no one to share it with. John began some more recording sessions in London and we ended up spending a lot of time with Cynthia. She was a kind person. She wasn't at all pushy or ambitious, and never had been as far as John was concerned. She seemed happy with him as he was. She hadn't let the money go to her head and she was as natural as ever… They were happy days we all had together, walking along the banks of the Thames, Julian in the pushchair, feeding the ducks and having picnics. A couple of times the chauffeur drove us three girls into London for a shopping spree at Harrods and Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge. Money was no object. It didn't seem to matter how much we spent. We could have anything we wanted. That put Jacqui and me in a slightly embarrassing position as we were frightened to admire anything too much. If we did, Cynthia simply whipped her cheque book out of her bag and insisted we have it. Each time she did write a cheque, it was fun to see all the whisperings and nudging between the assistants as they recognised the name. We bought blouses, cashmere sweaters, leather trousers, and a new outfit each for the Beatles concert John was taking us to later in the week. We were loaded with bags when we left. At the store exit we had some right royal treatment from the Harrods doorman in his green and gold uniform who was waiting to open the door of the Rolls and help us in. It was the first time I saw ladies handing their dogs to a doorman at Harrods. Amazing!”

Julia Baird

"In July that year (1964) John and Cynthia bought Kenwood, a house in Weybridge, Surrey, for $20,000. That’s when we knew that John was a millionaire. And despite John’s ridiculous schedule, they had been talking about having us- the sisters and the cousins- to visit them in their new home. Harrie wanted to send us all together, but Cynthia and John insisted that Jackie and I went first, followed by David and Michael on a separate visit. They had been in the house for about six weeks when we arrived, via our first ever flight from Liverpool Airport… John and Cynthia’s new house was in a state of being done up. In fact the work had hardly been started when we arrived. There was no kitchen downstairs, just a gaping hole where it was planned to be. There were no electric gates either, no swimming pool, nor landscape gardens. But John was enormously proud of it, telling us all about the plans and showing off the elegant oak staircase, the large reception rooms and his den, which was red and lined with books. In the absence of a functioning kitchen downstairs, the food we ate was cooked in the housekeeper’s flat at the top of the house. John insisted that we sat down as a family to eat, in the oak-panelled dining-room downstairs, around a mahogany table under a chandelier. We sometimes ate roast dinners, but most of the time we had very simple food, like our favourite egg and chips, with two-year-old Julian perched in his high chair beside us. John and Cyn slept in a huge bedroom with an ensuite bathroom. We couldn’t get over the sunken bath, we’d never seen anything like it. We went into London several times, in the chauffeur-driven car, taking Julian with us. We bought him his own Beatle outfit, consisting of a miniature black polo-neck jumper, black jeans and shoes. He looked like the little rocker his Dad had predicted. We trawled Harrods, Harvey Nichols and the King’s Road, with Cynthia’s cheque book at the ready. Everything we liked, she wanted to buy. We had arrived in our best clothes, but renewed everything at least once: coats, dresses, skirts, jumpers, jeans. Every time Cynthia got out her cheque-book and signed ‘Cynthia Lennon’, she would explain that we were John’s sisters. We loved this, especially because our own family, still considering us outsiders, never referred to us as John’s sisters. While we were in Kenwood we saw the fan mail, which was arriving by the sackful every morning. John said that we could open the letters and read them, and even reply if we wanted to… All four Beatles were now the proud owners of customized black Mini Coopers, with darkened electric windows…John hadn’t yet passed his driving test, but still insisted on driving us to have a picnic by the Thames. John, Cynthia, Julian, Jackie, and me. He drove right across the golf course in Weybridge, laughing. This time we didn’t stop to collect golf balls to sell back to the golfers. The money problem had been resolved. When we remonstrated with John, laughing, about driving on the greens, he said, ‘I’m a Beatle. I can do anything.’ At that time, that was the feeling, everywhere. I had asked John to get me some contact lenses too. We asked the optician, who said that I was still too young and that my eyes need another year or two, to ‘settle’. So another one of our shopping trips on that visit had been to Bentalls, a large department store in Kingston-upon-Thames, to buy me some funky glasses. Cynthia and John both had glasses from there and thought that I would like a pair too…Yes please!... A day or two later we went back to Liverpool and school. It had been a wonderful visit. John and Cyn had seemed happy and unchanged, despite the grandness of their house and the money they had."

Julia Baird

"John and Cynthia took us to see George, who was living with Pattie Boyd in nearby Esher. There weren’t any sofas or chairs and we all sat on huge, embroidered cushions on the floor and had drinks and snacks. It was my first experience of a hippy house and I wanted a home just like theirs."

Julia Baird, 2019

"We opened his fan letters. Even replied to some of them: 'Yes, I will marry you. See you at the church tomorrow.'''

Julia Baird, 2019

"John didn’t pass his driving test until he’d had a Mini a fair while. And it had electric windows. No one had electric blacked-out windows in those days, but he did. My sister Jackie and I went down to stay with him and his then wife Cynthia at Kenwood when he’d not long moved in. And we went out in his Mini and he drove all over the golf course with me, this very posh, rich person’s golf course. We’re from Liverpool. We’re out in the car riding over the golf course. I said, 'This is dreadful. John, you can’t do this. You can’t.' He said, 'I’m a Beatle, I can do anything.'"

Julia Baird, 2014

John passed his driving test in February of 1965, I still think there's two visits that the memory collided into one. Julia wrote in John Lennon, My Brother that while she and Jacqui were visiting, John was studying and practicing driving before his test. The Beatles did hold a Christmas show in the first weeks of January, but at Hammersmith Odeon. While I am hesitant to believe that it was the Christmas show, perhaps Julia and Jacqui did stay at Emperor's Gate in December of 1963? It's logical and John didn't live there for very long. It could've been a brief visit, too. But, what do I know? I wasn't there… However, I still say it's a collide of memories. Here's the details from Julia about seeing The Beatles in concert at Astoria Theatre: 

"Oh. I don’t know. We went to the Liverpool Empire* when they did the tour... and we went to the Finsbury Park Astoria Cinema**. And I have visited that place since and it’s now a Gospel Hall… that was in London. And, that was a big, exciting thing. We went along with Cynthia. I think that was the first time it hit me, personally, how big they were . . . We went backstage. My sister and I were like good girls just sitting there watching it all. Mick Jagger walked in . . . But, afterwards, we went back with Cynthia on that particular night. We went back to the house in Weybridge with Cynthia, while John stayed out to party. It was a bit unsettling on Cynthia. She had a babysitter for Julian. He was in bed. We went back and had cocoa."

Julia Baird, 2000

*October 28, 1962 with Little Richard or March 24, 1963 with Tommy Roe and Chris Montez 

**I already wondered which date they were there

Julia and Cynthia at Cynthia's home in Normandy, 1998

By 1965, Bobby got married and was seeing his daughters as possible. Julia and Jacqui weren't too thrilled with their new stepmother but eventually accepted it for his happiness while Bobby accepted their feelings to see his daughters alone. Sadly, that same year around Christmas, Bobby died in a car accident. Julia was in college and Jacqui was in job training as a hairdresser. John and Cynthia weren't immediately told until months later; Mater eventually told them. It was then that John and Cynthia decided to buy a house to provide his sisters a nest egg… but we'll get to that down the future. By 1968, John and Cynthia were barely in touch with Julia and Jacqui… they got a divorce and John fell in love with Yoko Ono. That same year, on August 16th, Julia married her boyfriend Allen Baird and moved to Ireland before moving back to England a few years later. Jacqui remained in Liverpool, living in an apartment with friends while working as a hairdresser. Julia and probably Jacqui last saw John in 1968 and last spoke to him on the phone the following year for the next few years. Julia has three children: Nicolas (April 1970), Sara (September 1971), and David (April 1979). In 1981, Allen and Julia divorced.

As for Jacqui, she moved down south in London and got involved with a man named Paul. Jacqui got pregnant and briefly moved in with Mimi before moving in with Paul and had her son, John, in 1974. According to Mimi, Jacqui moved back in with her while pregnant for the second time but, sadly I'm guessing she miscarried as I could only find out about John and no other children. Julia only mentioned her nephew John in her Imagine This book. Jacqui moved back and forth between Liverpool and London over the years as a hairdresser and shop assistant. I have heard Jacqui had a heroin addiction but there's no elaborate source. John got in contact with his sisters in 1974 and 1975 after he returned back to Yoko after their separation, Yoko was pregnant with Sean. They would talk for hours on the phone, wrote letters (which Julia burned out of habit- she's the 'away the clutter' type), and sent pictures until after Sean was born in October. Whenever Julia and Jacqui would try to get in contact with John, they were stonewalled so they both gave up. The last time John and Julia spoke was on November 17, 1980; John told her he was planning to return to England in hopes of a family reunion by 1981. Unfortunately, it didn't happen. In 1991, Julia started a long term relationship with Roger Keys. She worked as a special needs for teenagers, taught English and French as a teacher and a trained psychotherapist as well as working with charity Save the Children, particularly in India and the Himalayas, and now lives in Liverpool. She became The Cavern Club's Director in 2004 and supports The Beatles cover band, The Mersey Beatles. Julia was also made Honorary Director for Strawberry Fields when it recently reopened.

Julia and Cynthia saw each other far and few between since Cynthia's divorce from John in 1968 and re-established contact by 1991 when Julia reached out to Cynthia about Mimi's ill health. Cynthia also reconnected with Jacqui. Meanwhile, Julia and Jacqui have bare yet rare contact with Yoko.

"During that visit Cynthia took us to shops and bought us anything we wanted, just wrote out a check. We almost became frightened to look at anything too long. The whole family liked Cynthia. I have nothing to say about Yoko Ono. I have never met her and have no relationship with her. I spoke to her on the phone once, and she once wrote a letter from New York, just general chitchat about John’s condition. In 1970 she and John paid a visit to Aunt Harriet, who came out with this great leg of lamb for dinner. Yoko simply announced that they were not eating that sort of thing because they were on some sort of macrobiotic diet. She spent most of the visit in the kitchen chopping and slicing up things like carrots."

Julia Baird, 1985

"I’m close to Cynthia, but Julian we don’t see. He lives in the south of France. I think that Julian has had a very raw deal all around - yes, from John, certainly from Yoko. I don’t know about from Sean. I know that Julian felt very protective of Sean, at one time. I don’t know what their relationship is now. Julian, I do know, has a girlfriend that he’s had for a few years, Lucy. And, he’s very happy with her. I’m just happy that he’s happy."

Julia Baird, 2000

"Cynthia encouraged our relationship. She’s like a big sister to me."

Julia Baird, 2007

"We've kept in touch and become part of each other's lives. We're quite spiritual people and even though we don't see each other all the time, we know each other inside out." 

Cynthia, 1998

"She made friends with Jackie and me from the start and 35 years later she's still very supportive. She's like a big sister and if I needed anything, I know she'd be there for me. We shared history - we all share bits of John and we lost him when he went to the States. That's part of the bond - we're his first family and I fear that, as Julian said of himself, we're a thorn in Yoko's side. It seems as though she would have preferred John to have been born at 26 and had no life in Liverpool. It's terribly hurtful." 

Julia Baird, 1998

Julia wrote two books: John Lennon, My Brother in 1988 and Imagine This: Growing Up With My Brother John Lennon in 2007. Julia was determined to have a private life until a John Lennon documentary aired; it showed Cynthia with a brief walk on part and poorly descriptive, his mother Julia as a neglected mother, and no mentions of Julian or his sisters. Julia called the producer who believed John didn't have any sisters (or brothers), as well as a biography written by Albert Goldman, which prompted her to write a book to set the record straight about her family, especially her mother Julia.

"What I’ve seen so far is negative, so fabricated. It’s the most negative piece of work I have ever seen. It’s almost as if he has taken a half truth and twisted it, as far as I’m concerned, to the point of no recognition. He’s taken things from a book that I wrote called A Twist Of Lennon and he’s even twisted that. He’s taken a lot from other books, Ray Coleman’s book and Philip Norman’s book Shout! on the Beatles, and elaborated on it and twisted it. I’d like him to be portrayed as a real man, not this shadow of a man. I haven’t read John Lennon, My Brother, but it sounds okay." 

Cynthia, 1988 (referring to book The Lives of John Lennon by Albert Goldman)

“There’s an awful lot of home truths coming out that were always overlooked before, because the people that were writing the books, were not from the inner circle as it were, they had not lived what we’d lived. I’m only half way through it, it’s such a tragic story that those two girls and John had to go through.”

Cynthia, 2007 (about book Imagine This)

Julia last saw Cynthia in September of 2014 before her death in April of 2015. Julia keeps in contact with Julian. Not sure about Jacqui, but I do believe there's a line of communication between herself and Julian. Unfortunately, I can't say the same with Julia and Jacqui's relationship with their other nephew, Sean. Julia and Jacqui only met Sean at Aunt Mimi's funeral in 1991. A year before, the family attended the John Lennon tribute concert with Sean playing in Liverpool but only the concert… no backstage access. A few years ago, Sean was performing at various areas in Europe, including London. Jacqui went to see Sean perform and told the stagehand that she was there… let's just say Jacqui heard no word about being invited backstage. If it had been Julian, Jacqui would immediately be ushered backstage. Like Ingrid, Sean is very welcome to reach out to his Aunts but I don't think they're holding their breaths. Julia has met Yoko a few times, but they're not close other than a hug and pleasantries. Julia is certainly not happy on how John abandoned Julian after the divorce, doesn't understand how he did a thing like that. Julia is a grandmother to three grandchildren; not sure about Jacqui.

"Julian was now big enough to sit up at the table in his high chair and John, despite many of his unconventional attitudes, maintained old-fashioned principals. Julian had to be taught to eat properly. I once got into trouble over lunch because I pulled a face at Julian and jokingly stuck my tongue out. 'Stop that,' John growled at me. 'He will copy you and I don't want him doing that.'"

Julia Baird

“I don’t know if Sean and Julian have a relationship. I think so, they talk well of each other, but I’m really an aunt to Julian.” 

Julia Baird, 2016

“He was a very good son, extremely attentive and loving. He’s into photography now, which I think is great for him, because it’s something John didn’t do. It can be a hindrance being the son of an icon.”

Julia Baird, 2016

Julia and Jacqui at Mathew Street near The Cavern Club in Liverpool, 1985

Julia at Miramar Cultural Center in Florida, February of 2016

Photographed by me… please don't save or use without my permission

I was lucky enough to meet Julia and she signed my book, Imagine This. I was going through a very tough time in my life, and, honestly, meeting Julia helped brighten up the light of the tunnel for me. A few months after that, I met Pattie Boyd (for the second time; first was in 2008 Beatles Fest in Las Vegas)! Anyway, I got to have a few minutes of conversation with her, mostly about Cynthia, as I figured this was my best chance of asking! Here's an entry I wrote from my diary about the experience:

2-20-16

On the 18th, I had probably the first high point of the year of 2016: I met John Lennon's (half) sister Julia Baird… Rather than getting a new book for her to sign, Mom found her book (at my constant request) that I got from Amazon Canada since it wasn't released in the U.S. I did tell Julia that and she was impressed by my determination skills- probably the first person in the U. S. to get her book… Here I am, with a living connection to John Lennon who died before I was born but admired. I asked how Ingrid, Jacqui, and her children are. She doesn't talk to Ingrid despite saying she's welcomed- Jacqui and her children are brilliant (Jacqui is like her twin that's 2 years younger). Julia is also a grandmother of 3! I also shared my condolences to Stanley, her cousin, and of course Cynthia. She got very sad- she last saw Cynthia in September of 2014 (the 20th) and at the time no clue she was sick. It must have been real quick. Cynthia was sweet, was very happy, and settled with Noel. Julia still keeps in contact with Julian- more her reaching out but Julian always responds back. Had a relationship with him since birth. Julia didn't say much on Yoko and nothing about Sean. Some more small talk about the Beatles before the concert (The Mersey Beatles) started. We posed for pictures and I got my book autographed…

After the concert, I found Julia again to say goodbye. I told her that she's the closest I would ever get to John and to thank her for making my sucky 2016 a positive high note as I'm going through a tough time. I shook her hand and told her I appreciate it. Earlier I did get a hug and kiss on cheek)

I didn't include this in my diary but Julia did tell me that when together, John was very much in love with Cynthia.