The Beatles

I have loved the Beatles my whole life. I even made it to Liverpool in 2003, full of the specific, overwhelming excitement of finally being somewhere you have always wanted to be.

 

I wanted to leave flowers on the doorstep of John Lennon's childhood home, Mendips. But I couldn't afford any.

 

We had lunch at a Pizza Express on the way there. They had enormous, beautiful Birds of Paradise in vases in the bathroom. I took one. I hid it down my pant leg. It was longer than my leg and dripping cold water, and I walked very strangely down the street as a result. I left it on the doorstep.

 

On the way out, I broke off a small piece of the tree in the front yard and put it in my bag. It's in my memory box. It is still green to this day.