C’mon! Admit it — wasn’t Paul your favorite Beatle? Sigh….he was mine for sure.  When I first saw him on TV, on the Ed Sullivan Show, I nearly swooned for the first time in my then-pretty-short life. Those soulful eyes, that hair….sigh…I was in love.

 I could not see how anyone thought the others were better looking, or could sing better, than MY Paul. Throughout the Beatles career, I championed Paul, cheered when I saw “A Hard Day’s Night” and “HELP!” and mourned at the possibility that Paul was DEAD?!? He was my favorite.

Back when the Beatles toured, I was too young to go to a live concert.             And, unlike today,  musical groups and artists did not visit every town in America while on tour–only major places in major cities.  So, for years and years, decades even, I never got the chance to see the Beatles, or MY Paul, live in concert. So, I saved my babysitting money up and bought their records, their LPs, posters, 16 Magazine and anything else I could find while waiting for the chance to see Paul in person.

Fast forward to the early 90s and Philadelphia’s Veterans’ Stadium….the Beatles are done, Paul is married (how could he!??) to Linda and they’re touring the US and finally, finally!!, I am in the crowd! Woohooo! Paul in person and I was only in my late 30s, married, a mom and still a fan. In spite of my husband’s presence (yeah, I had to take him) and his stern glares, when Paul came on stage, I did what I’d waited years to do –

I stood up and screamed “I LOVE YOU PAUL!” at the top of my lungs!

It felt great. It felt empowering. It felt so good to release all the feelings I’d held inside since teenager years and let him know how I felt about him. He was my favorite…sigh…. And you know, I’ve seen him in concert several times since then and the reaction is the same each time — I am transported back to being 13 years old and in love.

This week, dear hubby (who is a Beatles fan because of their music and is not affected by how cute they were….) and I are going to see a Beatles tribute band — RAIN is appearing in Philadelphia. We’ve seen a few others, like Beatlemaniacs and the British Invasion (in Disney’s Epcot) and enjoyed them, but RAIN is supposed to be one of the best aka sound and look the most like the originals.

No, I know they’re not the real thing, but for a few short hours, I’m going to suspend my disbelief and relive my teenage years. And I may even scream out “I LOVE YOU, PAUL!” once or twice just for fun!

So, who was/is your favorite Beatle? Or were you a fan of their music? Let me know by posting between now and Saturday and I’ll pick someone to win a RAIN souvenir and an autographed book!

Terri (whose favorite is still….sigh….Paul)

When not lamenting Paul’s marriage to Linda (she doesn’t talk about the OTHER one), Terri is working on her next Brava and Harlequin Historical releases. Visit her website at www.terribrisbin.com  for more info and to see where you can meet her in PERSON!