Dateline: July 4th, 2022

Today started much like the previous day: I woke up early, ate breakfast, practiced Czech online, and then went back to sleep for another six hours. Damn jet lag!

When I awoke, it was already evening. I knew I had to do something special on this particular day, so I decided to head on down to Mala Strana to see the Lennon Wall.

As much as I appreciate and enjoy John Lennon, it might surprise you, dear reader, that my first memory of this man was not a positive one. The year was 1987. I had just returned home from school and was looking forward to watching cartoons on television. However, my mother informed me that tonight, Dad would be watching a documentary on John Lennon.

Who? Needless say I did not take the news well. I was a jealous guy, and was none to pleased that for the next 90 minutes, my father’s attention would be singularly focused on the television. I didn’t get much from the documentary–only that John was a man who wore glasses and wanted to stop the war.

Like most kids my age in 1987, I thought Vietnam was a triumphant victory for the United States because Rambo. I knew nothing of the complete unmitigated disaster that war was, or about my father’s bronze star that he had learned for his involuntary service in South Vietnam.

Still, stopping war seemed like a noble goal. As I got older, I did learn to appreciate John’s music and messages. I also wondered what would happen in 2020–40 years after his death, and another 40 years after his birth. Would people still remember him? Would they still care?

Hence my obsession with the Lennon Wall. Apparently, shortly after John’s untimely death, Prague citizens started risking their lives with their constant graffiti on one particular wall in Prague’s Mala Strana (lesser town) neighborhood. The wall was (and still is) owned by the Maltese government, so it was outside of the Communist ruling party’s jurisdiction. Four decades later, not only is this magnificent monument to John Lennon still visible, but the city of Prague has given it protected status, and any further graffiti must be approved by a commission of artists.

However, since I have virtually no visual artistic talent anyway, I didn’t need to draw. I simply put my hand to the wall, said a silent prayer for peace in my mind, and reflected on the many, many, many people who have contributed to John’s message of peace and love for the last 42 years.

Yes, that’s right. The Lennon wall is older than the man himself.

Or as Obi-Wan might say:

You can’t win, Darth. If you cut me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possible imagine.