A Magical End

Can you guess where I am today....Yup the good old infusion center. It's a great place for posting.

Anywhodle, if you are at all exposed to media you know that the 8th and final Harry Potter movie was released last week.

The hubs and I were lucky enough to attend an advanced screening on Thursday evening, preceded by a cocktail reception and some snacks from the gourmet concession stand at a lovely LA theatre to celebrate this momentous occasion. A fitting sendoff for our 12 year journey with the Boy Who Lived and his wonderful friends.

The movie was truly magical. I loved it. I cried through most of it, laughed out loud and felt heart sick when it was over. The creators did an incredible job capturing the emotions of the book.

12 years ago, we had just moved from Nor Cal to So Cal for college. When we left my mom picked up the first Harry Potter book on a whim, before the hype. She read it the week I left home. She gently encouraged us to read as well, there was something about this story.

So on one of our first drives back home to visit, we got the book on tape and we were hooked. The story, the writing, the characters -- all amazing. It made me fall back in love with books. Thankfully the second book was already out and we jumped on that one too. It was as if we were at Hogwarts, friends with these very real people.

My dad, always a book lover, read it too. The four of us forged yet another bond, over one very powerful story.

We waited in line for the third book at midnight, Hubs and I here and my parents in Nor Cal! The feeling I had seeing little kids out waiting for a book was one I will NEVER forget. It was amazing.

The sixth book came out the week before our wedding and it true nerd fashion we both devoured the book on our honeymoon. We even have pics of it. We wouldn't have had it any other way (except we would have bought two books so the hubs didn't have to wait for me to finish;)

The first movies were released in November, around my birthday, and even though I was in my early to mid 20s this is what we did for my bday for a few years. And I loved it! (Thank you to CRN, who powered through them, even though he wasn't all that into it, while the rest of us geeked out.) The movies were a great tribute to the books, which made it even more fun to be in the dance of movies and then books being released.

The 7th and final book, The Dealthly Hallows came out in July of 2007. Just weeks after, my dad passed away. One of my very first irrational thoughts after he was gone was that he wasn't going to get to read the final book! I said so to my mom with a tone of distress and she, in her warm way, reminded me that he already knew now how it ended;)

That book, that summer was a saving grace, but also bittersweet. It was also the end of a story. But reading it and thinking of my dad was so comforting.

So here we are, the final movie out. So much has happened in the last 12 years, but I've loved having Harry to look forward to whether in books or on the big screen. I knew going into it that I would be emotional, I love these characters. I love the morals weaved through the words. I love getting lost in the pages for hours at a time. I love that I can watch the movies over and over. I love what it means to our family.

But the true beauty of books, just like the people we love is that they are never totally gone. I will read the entire series over and over (I already have) and I can't wait to read them to our babies. I will buy the outrageously priced movie box set and I will always find solace with Harry, Hermione and Ron.