I was five weeks shy of 10-years-old.
My love for the Beatles was already in full swing and I was also a huge Paul McCartney/Wings fan.
My mother woke me up the morning of 12/9. She told me McCartney had been murdered. Devastated, I ran downstairs and the radio was playing Beatles music. Minutes later, I realized that it was Lennon .. not Paul. Still devastated, I cut the article out of the newspaper and taped it to my bedroom wall.
I swore, back then, that his picture glowed at night. I still don't think I was crazy.
To this day, thinking about his assassination makes me angry and sad.
The words, "legend," and "icon," are overused.
John Lennon was both before he died and will always be.