"My memories of that time with Dad and May are very clear...
they were the happiest time I can remember with them." Julian Lennon
Reunion
May was not only inspirational to John regarding his music, she was the driving force in encouraging John to reunite with his son Julian.
John was apprehensive about seeing his son, Julian, who he hadn't seen in over four years. He mistakenly thought Cynthia, his first wife, was trying to get back with him.
Cynthia was so moved by May's kindness she was later to write, when endorsing May's second book 'Instamatic Karma'...
"My first meeting with May, in the early seventies, was fraught with tension and uncertainty. My efforts to reunite Julian with his father after four years could have gone one way or another. May was wonderful, even though she was young and inexperienced in having to deal with such sensitive and emotional issues.
"Before long we became close friends. May was open, caring and compassionate to me and my son, Julian.
"For all that May has done in the past and hopes to achieve in the future, Julian and I will be her greatest champions. She is a lovely, vibrant lady. She was a good friend when my son and I needed one, and a dear close friend now."
Hypocrisy, Acceptance, Forgiveness... Love
In an interview with Newsweek (9/29/80), John explained, "If you know your history, it took us a long time to have a live baby. And I wanted to give five solid years to Sean. I hadn't seen Julian, my first son (by ex-wife Cynthia), grow up at all. And now there's a 17-year-old man on the phone talkin' about motorbikes."
There was no escaping Julian's bitterness when he revealed these harsh sentiments to the British Telegraph: (06/1998)
"I have to say that, from my point of view, I felt he was a hypocrite. Dad could talk about peace and love out loud to the world but he could never show it to the people who supposedly meant the most to him: his wife and son.
"How can you talk about peace and love and have a family in bits and pieces - no communication, adultery, divorce? You can't do it, not if you're being true and honest with yourself."
Julian has today reached a point of acceptance, "If Dad was to walk through the door now, we�d hug and cry, and get rid of all that pent-up emotion and anger. I have nothing but love for him now." (Times Online: June, 2009)
Speculation
When reading May's story it becomes hard not to speculate on what might have been. May had become the centerpiece of one of John and Yoko's absurd mind games, and although desperately struggling to survive herself in a no-win situation, she proved still able to behave unselfishly in such sensitive affairs.
During his involvement with the 'White Feather: The Spirit of Lennon' exibition in Liverpool (June, 2009), Julian recently told Times Online, "We had a lot of fun, laughed a lot and had a great time in general when he (John Lennon) was with May Pang. My memories of that time with Dad and May are very clear - they were the happiest time I can remember with them."
After pondering both Julian's and Cynthia's sentiments, would it not be drawing too long a bow to speculate that if May and John had stayed together... would John and Julian, encouraged by May's "caring and compassionate" nature, have enjoyed a true and lasting father and son reunion?
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