One of My Best Memories

I understand that this will sound lame to most, but this is truly something that I cherish and hope to never take for granted.

One of my favorite childhood memories was growing up with the Harry Potter franchise. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people who read the books before they became popular, or before the movie series was announced. Unfortunately, I wasn't that cool. My parents bought my brother the first book when he was in 6th grade so that he'd have something to do when we were on the plane going on spring break. I was in 4th grade at the time, and I believe the movie series had just been announced, and only four of the books had been published thus far. My brother actually had to have the book taken away from him, because if it wasn't, he would have finished it before the plane even took off! Once we got back from break, my parents bought the other three books published in the series and he started to read them, encouraging me and my sister to do the same.

I started to read the first one, but when I put it down my sister picked it up. Do you know how hard it is to share a book series with two siblings? Not to mention the parents although they were patient enough to wait for us to finish first :P Anyway, I actually didn't finish the first book before the first movie. I actually finished the SECOND book before I finished the first. It didn't matter being out of order, though, because I had fallen in love.

And that's the best part of the memory, falling in love not just with one book or one author, but with a series that captivates you from the start and leaves you CRAVING for more, even a half decade after the last book was published. I went to midnight releases for the books AND the movies! I remember reading the fifth book at my sister's softball games. I remember not being able to talk to my siblings or my friends for a good week because we didn't want to spoil anything for anyone. I remember bashing the movies for getting certain parts of the books wrong, but still loving the movies almost as much of the books for identifying so well with their target audience that I felt like they were made for ME.

Like I said, the books have been published for years. The movies have been out for years. And I still look back and read and watch them. I can honestly say I've never had another series affect me like this, and I truly feel like my childhood would be missing something if I hadn't partaken in this adventure. I honestly fear that my children will never be able to feel a joy that comes close to what that series made me feel.