Isn't his wonderful picture from Julian Lennon's Facebook page great?
I recently learned that Julian Lennon, having lost a childhood friend to Lupus, has been a valuable advocate for autoimmune disease. This from Lupus Now:
Just about everyone knows the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," but most people don’t realize that Lucy was a real person, the subject of a childhood drawing by her kindergarten classmate, Julian Lennon. Young Julian showed it to his father, Beatle John Lennon, explained it was "Lucy in the sky with diamonds," and the rest is music history. But Lucy’s story doesn’t end there. It has come full circle, as she is the inspiration for a new song that bears her name.In the future I will listen to Lucy In The Sky, one of my favorite Beatles songs, with an entirely different perspective.
Lucy Vodden, who died September 22, 2009, from an infection while on vacation in Norfolk, England, had battled lupus since 2005. Julian Lennon has fond memories of his childhood playmate. "We were the two that played together all the time. We were always trying to find things to do," he recalls. The two fell out of touch as they grew up, and although Lennon remembers seeing Vodden at a listening party for his 1984 debut album, Valotte, he moved to New York when his career took off and "lost touch with a lot of people."
Vodden and Lennon reconnected a couple of years ago when Lennon hired a personal assistant, Annie Fowler, a friend to Vodden and her sister. Lennon learned that his old playmate had lupus and vowed to do anything he could to help.
"The boys," he begins, referring to the Beatles, "made a pretty penny from Lucy and my little drawing, and I felt the least that I could do is support her and comfort her as best I could." Lennon said yes "in a heartbeat" when Vodden asked him to participate in a benefit calendar for the St. Thomas’ Lupus Trust in the United Kingdom (U.K.). Mr. December 2010 provided an exclusive photo and a quote, saying that because of Lucy, he "learned about lupus and wanted to support research into this very debilitating condition."
3 comments:
that's a fascinating tidbit!. In the course of just this week alone two clients( who have no idea I have an autoimmune disease myself) divulged in the course of conversation that they had close relatives who had died of lupus in the passed few years. It really hit ME hard. I often tend to think of Lupus and other AI diseases as just chronic annoyances- not fatal.I think to function day to day I have to block that possibility.
I can't believe that I just found this blog! How great! I am a 10-year SS sufferer, and it's nice to find a place for us!
Welcome, I'm glad that you found us too!
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