It all began when I was 14.

I was in the car with my older teenage brother and his girlfriend, when suddenly this group came on the radio... and we all started to talk about them. The Beatles! That's what they were called. I thought it was a funny name. But I loved the way they sounded, and I remember thinking, "They are from England but yet sing with an American accent."  I wanted more. 

Getting more wasn't easy. I had to babysit to get each and every record The Beatles released. Each job I took was one step closer to my next precious Beatles record.

I had 2 girlfriends who lived in my neighborhood, within walking distance of my house.  They both shared my interest in The Beatles.  We had our own little fan club, and through the Beatles, we became fast friends. They really helped me more than once in my early years of being a teenager. But we would have never met, had it not been for The Fab Four.

The Beatles were the talk of my school.  They were coming on The Ed Sullivan Show one Sunday, and everyone I knew (and plenty I didn't know) was talking about how they couldn't miss seeing them!  I too was so excited. It was an event...a unifying event that linked me with everyone else around me.

Sunday night came, and I could hardly contain myself to sit in my chair and not scream.  But doing so would have angered my father.  He did not like The Beatles; in fact, he called them "long hair queers."  I know it was horrible, but back then things were so different.  That Sunday night show changed everything.

After seeing them sing, I was so hooked on them that all I wanted to do was talk, eat, sleep and listen to The Beatles.  Every Saturday, my two girlfriends and I would walk to town to go to the local drug store and check out any new magazines to see pictures of The Lads. Sometimes we actually had money to buy some!  We would scream and shriek and hug each other when we found new pictures of our guys.  Anne was into Ringo; Cyndee loved Paul; and George was the guy that melted my heart.

The first year of The Beatles tour, Anne, Cyndee, and I begged our parents to let us go to Jacksonville, Florida to see the boys perform. (And I mean we did a lot of begging and promising this and that if they would let us go!)  We lived in a small town about 20 miles north from Orlando, so it was not an "impossible dream."

Anne's mother agreed to take us if we could just get all of our parents to let us go. Finally, all of our parents were on board. They agreed, and off we went... so excited that all the way up there we were shaking with excitement. 

Seeing The Beatles in person was the most exciting event we had ever experienced in our young lives.  Back then there were no DVD's or videos; we only saw The Beatles at fleeting moments, moving on TV. But now, we were actually going to see them, moving in person!  

The noise in that Jacksonville Gatorbowl was unbelievable, and Cyndee, Anne, and I were screaming right along with all the other girls.  We didn't hear a lot of their singing, but we SAW them and knowing we were right there, in the same place as The Fab Four gave us such a rush!

All through the rest of that year we got together every day after school and did nothing but listen to Beatles records or go up town to get the latest magazine with new pictures of The Beatles.  They were everything to us. 

Then we got the news that The Beatles would be touring the U.S. again! This time they would swing close to my hometown again. They were coming to Atlanta, Georgia. 

Once again we began to beg and plead for our parents to let us go.  And once again, Anne's mother said she'd take us. We'd stay the night in a motel and then come home the next day.  After crying to my parents that I would just die if I didn't see them, they finally gave in. The three of us were so excited! Once again we were going to see "our" guys! 

When we went to see The Beatles this time, we promised not to be so stupid and scream all the way through the concert, hoping we would be able to hear them better.  We also promised to pay more attention on how they moved, sang, shook their heads.  We were ready this time! 

When we saw The Beatles walk up to the stage we tried so hard not to scream and even told some of the girls around us, "Shut up so we can hear better!"  Surprisingly some of them around us did just that!  We still had a hard time hearing them, but just a little, and I do mean just a little!  We could hear them.

I remember crying through the whole concert. I kept hitting Cyndee beside me, trying so hard not to scream.  And long before we were ready, The Beatles were bowing and running off the stage. 

Months turned into years.

Anne and Cyndee and I drifted apart as we got more involved in high school and boys!  But The Beatles were still so very close to me.  I loved putting on all my albums on the record player and listening to them while I wrote stories.  Some of my fiction had The Beatles in them, but most did not. Nevertheless, the background track for everything I created was The Beatles.

The older we got, the more complicated things became.  My friends were experimenting with drinking and a little pot, and they wanted me to go with them...riding around and partying.  I didn't have a boyfriend at that time, and I decided to stay home with my Beatles and my writing.  So off they went. And they got into a terrible accident.

One friend broke her jaw;  another, his back. As I heard more and more of the accident, I thanked God I had The Beatles because in a strange way they saved me from that fate!  Without going into a lot of details The Beatles saved me several times.

Again years melted away.  All of us got married, had children, and eventually, lost contact with one another.  Adulthood took us over, and our carefree days with The Beatles became memories.  Years later, when all my children had moved out and gotten married, my husband and I joined a church.  We loved it there, and I started to go to the woman's meetings. 

At these meetings (and in the church in general), we were taught not to have anything to do with Halloween, Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny. We were taught that telling our children that Santa existed was very wrong. 

Then we began to discuss Satanism and music.  The women in my church meetings mentioned several Rock and Roll groups and I kept sitting there thinking, "Well, I know The Beatles won't be in that group!"  Then, it happened. The woman in charge of the meetings said those two words: THE BEATLES. I thought, "What? What could The Beatles possibly of done wrong?!" 

The woman pointed out quotes from some of John's songs, saying that he didn't believe in Jesus. The woman told us that John had once quoted a man who was knowingly into Satanism, and she said that The Beatles had this man's picture on one of their albums. She mentioned the man's name, I went home and right away I checked this man out.  And yes, I did find his picture on the Sgt. Pepper's album.  I was heartbroken.

I wanted to do only what was right and I wanted to love God more than I did The Beatles.  I didn't want to sin...but I had many, many things of The Beatles: albums, photos, collectables.  I called up the woman who was in charge of the meetings and told her my plight. "What can I do?" I asked, in despair.

She told me to burn everything. She told me to throw it all away, to sell my Beatles collection, to do anything... but to get them out of my house," for demons are behind The Beatles." 

That day my heart was pulled out of my chest.  I told Jesus, "I'm doing this for YOU."  I sold most of my stuff on eBay, crying, sick at heart.  Some things were worth more money than I asked for; I just had to get them out of my home.

I couldn't just throw things of theirs away, and I secretly hoped that someone who loved them like me would love getting the things when they bought them.  It didn't take long. I sold many things quickly on eBay.  Now for my scrap book, all my pictures...all my memories of everything I did back then.  I slowly walked to the garbage can outside, tears rolling down my face, and I dropped it into the empty garbage can and slowly walked back into the house. 

Alone, I cried for my childhood memories.  But I thought, "I am doing this for God.  He will be so proud of me."  I had been told emphatically that I didn't love The Beatles, but rather that I had been "worshiping them!"

In time, things at that church turned strange and sour. I found out many things I couldn't believe they were doing – things that weren't right.  My husband and I left that church, and then the realization hit me...I had gotten rid of all The Beatle stuff that meant so much to me!  And for what???  For Man...not God!

I went right out and started to purchase all the CD'S of The Beatles, but I had once had so much more that I can never replace.  I'm still without all that I loved, but all those memories are still in my heart. Those memories are with me, but my photos, ticket stubs, posters, and programs are now gone, and I cannot look at them...ever again. 

I hope anyone reading this will never get suckered into a church or a cult where you have to give up something so special to you only to find out later it was for all the wrong reason. 

There was no scriptural or Biblical reason for me to sell or throw away any of my Beatle things.  I never  worshiped The Beatles; I still worshiped God.  There is nothing wrong in keeping things from your past – especially from your childhood –  that takes you back to the days of great memories. 

Please don't fall into this trap. Don't let "man" tell you what you can and cannot have.  You know your own heart and its allegiance. Your relationship with God is between you and God. 

I hope I have helped someone out there, someone who might be reading this before it is too late, as it was for me. 

Before you act on anyone's advice in spiritual matters, pray about it. When confronted by our church leaders, I didn't pray about it, I just followed instructions like a robot without a mind.  Never let that happen to you.  Be aware there are churches...or cults that act like churches...that are twisted in their beliefs and you can fall into them!

I thought I could never be pulled into something like this. I thought  I was too smart for something like that.  Well truth be told, I did fall, and I was not smart. 

But as John Lennon said, "I found out."

Sharyn Herrmann-forever a Beatle fan!
"It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.:  Psalm 118:8

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Published July 5, 2009

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