Emotional day for Aunt Mimi

Press, 26 January 1984, Page 15

Emotional day for Aunt Mimi

NZPA-PA Liverpool John Lennon’s Aunt Mimi, who brought up the superstar, revelled in a “dream come true” yesterday, when she met his son, Sean, for the first time. The 2% hour visit was the high spot of the day, during Sean’s whistle-stop tour of Merseyside with his mother, Yoko Ono. It fulfilled a pledge John Lennon made to his Aunt Mimi shortly before he was gunned down in a New York street in December, 1980. The emotional tour enabled Sean, aged eight, to

see for the first time some of the places made famous in the songs of the Beatles, like Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane. But asked about his favourite part of the visit, he had no doubts. Bubbling with enthusiasm, he declared: “I liked Aunt Mimi’s house best.” Aunt Mimi, Mrs Mary Smith, has been living with her sister, John’s Aunt Annie, at a secret address in Rock Ferry, Wirral, while she recovered from the effects of aa serious illness a year ago.

After the get-together with Sean, Yoko Ono said: “He got on so well with Mimi, it was great. It was beautiful to meet her again.” She added: “I had a lovely day — it was really beautiful. I’m glad that I came back here, and I’m glad I showed Liverpool to Sean. “It was a very emotional thing for me, in a way. I would like to collect myself now.” Aunt Annie had explained that it was uncertain whether Yoko would have been able to fit in the visit.

But Mimi was desperate to see Sean, she said. She confirmed that the get-together went very well. She said: “Mimi is quite unwell, but she was bearing up well. Everyone seemed very happy, chatting away, taking photographs and swapping autographs. Sean and Mimi got on very well together. “John had talked about Mimi to him a lot, and he felt as though he knew her. It was a dream come true for Mimi.”