as june 21st has drawn near, i have become nostalgic. attending this final book release party and diving into the book will be a bitter sweet experience. for the last seven years i have lived knowing that harry has more to accomplish and that i get to be a part of it when it happens. so much has happened in my life since harry potter was first introduced to the world in 1997.
i came into the harry potter phenomenon a bit late. the first book i read in the series--book 2--i purchased in the phoenix airport while flying to cincinnati on my honeymoon...late August of 2000. at this sublime time in my life i began delving into the life of harry potter. as an era comes to a close, i can't help but feel that a chapter of my life ending with jk rowling's final installment. this post will attempt to reconcile my life and harry's--showing how his journey and mine have intermingled.
book one--harry potter and the philosopher's stone (26 june 1997)
as harry potter's journey through hogwarts began, i began a journey of my own. my entry into the mtc marked a milestone in my life and an initiation into the adult mormon religious experience. my entrance into the temple then the mtc was marked with excitement, elation, and trepidation. harry had similarly poignant experiences--discovering his wizard nature, entering hogwarts school, sorted into gryffindor house, learning of his parents true fate and facing voldemort. it was a big year for both of us.
my first area in the philippines...
dad's letter while in the mtc...
book three--harry potter and the chamber of secrets (2 july 1998)
the second book is harder to correlate with my life. harry interacts with ginny more in this book as she is possessed by tom riddle's diary. i had not yet met amy, but 1998 was a great year for her and her family...
they took a trip to niagra falls the summer book two came out and this picture of aj sums up how we all feel about the harry potter books.
i was a year into my time in the philippines and times were good...
book three--harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban (8 july 1999)
this was a difficult yet important year for harry. he was tormented by the animagus form of sirius (black dog) yet discovered him to be wrongly accused. sirius ultimately brought solace to harry's world as a surrogate father.
coming home from the philippines was difficult for me, but i soon met someone who would change my life.
before we met and during the summer the book three release she was blissfully traveling with her family in preparation for sending her brother to venezuela...
risenmay boys in the waters of florida. i have come to know and love these boys as family.
this trip to island park with her family cemented their kentucky country upbringing...
amy and matt have always been close friends. these pictures from that spring and summer belay this fact...
amy wasn't sure why i included this picture, but it's a great close-up of matt and paul r...
the end of this summer found me unable to keep my eye's off of amy...
by some stroke of
magic inspiration? she decided to invite a boy she'd just met to the airport to see matty off...it was good she did as we were hitched before his return...
book four--harry potter and the goblet of fire (8 july 2000)
this was the first book that brought me to tears. harry wins the tri-wizard tournament and is transported by portkey to face voldemort. the priori incantem that springs to life from voldemort's malevolent spell brings harry face to face with his parents for the first time. his heightened emotions at that point mirrored the heightened emotions i would experience in a most memorable summer for me.
the summer began with a marriage proposal...
i was recently asked what i did for my bachelor's party and i didn't have a good answer. in rethinking the question though, my medical trip to the philippines just days after the engagement was a month long bachelor's party--all clean mormon fun.
lafe expresses what i felt as the wedding festivities drew to a close...!
this picture is a tribute to the frandsen thanksgiving celebrations that have mirrored several harry potter movie releases...
book five--harry potter and the order of the phoenix (21 june 2003)
harry took a hiatus and came back moody as ever. however, his life reached new heights as he fought off a dementor attack, started dumbledore's army, fought with death eaters and faced voldemort alone once again.
harry's hiatus mirrored my own. three years of blissful childless marriage were reigned in with the birth of our firstborn shmibbers. he has heightened our emotions and our ability to love in ways i didn't think i was capable.
and let's face it, harry potter has always been about family, friends and love...
notice goblet of fire at amy's feet...used to pass the time while feeding the shmibbers.
book six--harry potter and the half-blood prince (16 july 2005)
harry's time in his sixth year at hogwart's was overshadowed by death...the death of his godfather the previous year and the ultimate death of dumbledore. in the midst of these tragedies, he pushed forward in his quest for defeat of voldemort. bright spots in his life at this time included personal time with dumbledore throughout the year, an emotionally satisfying relationship with ginny and strengthened friendship with hermione and ron. this book in particular seemed to signal a transition from boy to man for harry as the book ends with him leaving school early in search of he who must not be named...
the books release found our family in transition. michael had grown from shmibber to shmichael and we had recently announced our pregnancy...(little did we expect that amy would be great with two children)
michael has not read any of the books, and i hope to read from book one with him this week. however, at the half-blood prince release party, he and i went to the gateway borders party complete with owls, potter glasses and lots of fun...
book seven--harry potter and the deathly hallows (scheduled for 21 july 2007)
where will book seven find harry?
where will book seven find you?
sadly, book seven will mark the end of a beloved story for me. harry has seen me through years of change and i will always look with fondness on these years of my life...
thank you for reading to the end of this really long and excessively nostalgic post. if there are pictures you think i should have included from the last 10 summers, i probably agree with you. but i have very few pictures in our home from before the kiddos were born...
