Julia and Alfred Lennon divorced when John was only four. Not too long after the divorce John was taken into the custody of his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George where he would spend the rest of his childhood. Julia doesn't make a reappearance in John's life until John became a teenager. From that point on Julia Lennon drastically changes John's life. She fills him with with inspiration, anger, excitement, and longing. In some ways she paved the way for his tremendous success with the Beatles and in others she greatly prohibited him. Even after her death in 1958 she continued to impact both John's life and career whether for better or worse.
Before John went into George and Mimi's custody, John's childhood was littered with constant arguing between…show more content… She used play him tons of records and tracks opening his eyes to all the different types of music. He especially took after rock and roll but he was still greatly influenced by jazz and Motown and other genres from the time. She was also the one to teach him how to play banjo. He later took those lessons and used they to learn to play guitar. All of this being said it is quite understandable that John was so upset when his mother passed away. It happened in mid July of 1958 as Julia was walking to catch the bus home from Mimi's. She crossed the street having been accompanied most of the way by a friend when she was hit by an off duty policeman. The friend said he remembered turning around due to a loud thud that he heard and seeing a body flying. John had been waiting for her at her house along with her husband. When he found out he was absolutely devastated "I was just getting to know her" he said. Later on he would say "It felt like I lost her twice. First when I was five, then again when I was 17" about the incident.
Julia did more than impact John's musical career she also greatly impacted his life outside of music. After her death John was getting into many fights and abusing alcohol. Later on he would look for her in all the women he dated, as his first wife Cynthia Powell said "He wanted everything in one person. Someone who was both a women and a man and a mother in one." He would eventually leave Cynthia for Yoko who who