we'll walk in the sun

That's lovely of you to say, thank you!

Quick disclaimer that I'm not suggesting Jim, John, or even Heather (lol) are Bad People who didn't love Paul. I mean, definitely not the first two, and I think the third... is a completely separate discussion that's not really pertinent here. By and large, I'm also not accusing anyone of anything that hasn't been fairly well documented or saying that Paul has never behaved badly in his life, is purely some kind of victim or doormat, or whatever. My personal observation is simply that each of these relationships kind of laid the groundwork for the next, culminating (hopefully) in the Mills-McCartney dysfunction.

The basic outline is that I think the complexities of Paul's relationship with his father created a framework whereby Paul was able to justify, defend, and tolerate people he loved treating him in ways that hurt him and internalize that in various ways. This, in my view, played a role in how he dealt with (and continues to deal with, frankly) John's more erratic and harmful behavior - tempered, of course, by John's capacity for being a lovely broth of a boy and genuine friendship. The breakup period and the waves of (often public) vitriol that followed, obviously, illustrate this most vividly and are the most extreme examples, but there are things earlier on (the Bob Wooler incident, for one, and probably whatever followed the extremely normal prostitute-clothing-scissors contretemps in Hamburg, the antagonizing of Jane, etc.) that, while we don't know specifically what went down between them, indicate a similar kind of... rationalizing John's behavior, accepting that That's The Way He Is, focusing on the positives in their relationship and placing the onus on himself to Fix It. (Note that this does not preclude John apologizing, attempting to atone, trying to do better, or anything along those lines - it's just that I don't think that was necessary for Paul to forgive him and to begin engaging in conciliatory behavior, and the "response" to HDYS being Dear Friend kinda bears that out. I know work started on that song before the release of Imagine, but like... Paul didn't have to put it on the Wild Life album. It could easily have been shelved in favor of a different "reaction", or none at all.) Paul then lost John in a permanent and very painful way and began to understand more, in retrospect, how John's trauma, pain, and struggles with mental health had impacted him - and realizing ways that he could have/should have been more understanding or done more to help. Paul is kind of a "But I Can Fix Him/Her" type of fella.

Removing, for the moment, from the equation Paul Being A Total Fucking Mess After Linda Died and, uh... certain carnal matters, I feel like all this history played a significant role in his relationship with HM: the potential to take things that were painful in her life and Make Them Better or Compensate, the ignoring of some red flags (not just wrt to her but, like... indications that their relationship was mutually Not Working) and the seeming tolerance/acceptance of others. He doubled down on it, persevering until he actually hit a breaking point that he could not self-medicate through and left.

The complex of the house, fences, and small outbuildings is arranged to create a succession of inviting, well-defined spaces near the house. The gate opens off the parking area.