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
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...
26 comments:
I couldn't help but cry through all the nostalgia. I'll be so happy to be with you as you buy your final copy of the Harry Potter series. I don't know though, there is a movement for Rowling not to end the magic.
'Oh to be a spot on your watch. But, alas, I am a mere muggle.'
Patty didn't say that, I did.
"why I won't buy Harry Potter #7"
Actually, thank you so much, Paul, for all of the pictures. They brought back so many memories and so many laughs. I also appreciate so much the pictures of the events I sometimes cannot remember: "Was I really there? That sure looked fun!" But mostly, every picture that you send of you and Amy and the kids is always apppreciated.
Now, back to HP. Did I understand your experience with HP#1? You bought it on your honeymoon? Even if it was true I don't think I would admit it. No HP book brought me to tears, but they did remind me of a HS bully jerk, a couple of teachers who seemed like they existed only to make my life miserable, a couple of obnoxious smarty-pants girls who acted like they knew everything, but most especially, miserable summers on the farm that made going back to school seem like a vacation.
I won't be spending $30 to find out that HP and Ginny are truly in love, Ron and Hermoine are even more in love, Snape is actually a concerned uncle, Dumbledore didn't really die-he just turned into a Phoenix, and that "He Who Must Not Be Named" is actually HP's Secret Santa.
fun post. it was nostalgic. Amy, how far along are you in the picture where you're pregnant with the twins?
thanks mom (and dad) for reading and enjoying.
jill: that picture was taken in january and the kids were born in february...amy commented last night that she hadn't realized how big she was.
dad r: i'm glad you enjoyed the photos. i spent way too much time scanning pictures yesterday when i should have been writing my research paper and reading ekgs...
i appreciate that you are able to reduce hp to his pure essence much more succinctly than i. interesting though that you have such poignant memories associate with what you have read...summers on the farm, insufferable teachers, traumatic high school classmate encounters, and realization that your female classmates were your intellectual superior. it would seem that your life too is tied to harry's. perhaps the clarity of those memories alone were worth your reading of harry potter. what other memories lie uncovered because you won't read book seven.
i too hope that snape is out to help draco and harry. everyone will pass from this life and perhaps dumbledore had decided it was his time to die--for draco's sake. i certainly would like to hear from dumbleydore again in book seven.
Very good post Paul. I really enjoyed it.
No one has mentioned movie #5 yet . . . ???
I went to the midnight showing last night. Unfortunately, I was really disappointed. So much left out. So little time. I won't spoil it for you if you haven't seen it, but would love to hear your opinions when you do.
As Paul said, this post took a bit of his time yesterday... and resulted in a bit of tension. But, the end result is sweet and nostalgic.
Memories are lost if they aren't recorded, talked about, written about, or otherwise thought about. I'm thankful to Paul for pulling out that huge container of pictures and making me sift through them with him... even if I was supposed to be writing a primary program.
I have a feeling we will be digging into those pictures again and warming up the scanner for future posts. Some pictures are just too fun to keep to ourselves!
Yes, HP #2 came on our honeymoon with us. It would have been completely unfair to my initiation to marriage to Paul Frandsen if he had not been caught up in some media form. And HP has, indeed, been a part of our family ever since.
Ah, yes, the pregnancy picture. I asked Paul if he were sure it should be included...
It is amazing how you can feel like a pretty normal *you* at a certain place and time... only to look back on that certain place and time and feel completely departed from it. So it is with all my pregnancy pictures...
It has been a lot of fun learning more about you guys. I only wish we could have been closer friends while living at the University Village. It's never too late though!
Paul, did I detect a hint of irony in your response to my "succinct" analysis of HP? Actually, my guys and their friends all have tickets to the 10 pm showing of the showing tonight after mutual. Right now they are watching #4 so they a are properly prepped.
We are getting the back yard ready for some serious bongo ball.
Dad,
Your comments only reveal how deeply you have already connected with the stories that took an impoverished J.K. Rowling, and made her worth more than the Queen of England (fact).
The movies are okay... I will only be at the midnight release of the book this year (they are better).
Amy, I couldn't believe that pregnancy picture. Wow. Women are truly amazing.
the books are always better
I completely agree, the books are better, but I usually enjoy the movies. I went to the midnight showing as a birthday present from some friends. Unfortunately, I have to wait for my book to be delivered. Have fun waiting for the book.
how was the movie? i've heard mixed, but mostly positive reviews...
we made it to utah and no fire on the way!
we saw the movie last night and i loved it.
radcliffe's acting was greatly improved this time around. the duel in the department of mysteries was outstanding and voldemort's entering harry was compelling. the whole movie moved at a great pace. there were things i would have added, but there was no lag time where you wished the movie would move onto something more interesting...
All ye Harry Potterites: Stand and pray for his release from the dark side.
pretty interesting article making the case for staying the course in iraq.
any thoughts? is america making a collosal mistake by playing politics right now?
i like that he gives suggestions what should have and what could still be done. it is rare that someone criticizes or supports the war and then goes on to give ideas for how to proceed...q
i just read this whole harry potter thing. and i've decided not to comment--i do not want to make light of something obviously so close to paul's heart....
Loved the article. I will have to show it to Jan. May have even found my next heavy read. It is amazing the amount of influence the media had and has.
I was terribly disappointed in the movie. I agree it moved well and was entertaining, but it left out soooo much . . . For the biggest book, such a short movie. I am glad Jan did not go with me, I am afraid that those who have not read the books will be lost. Other than that, it was enjoyable!
Thanks for readin', Stevie.
So we're just vacationing it up. Spent last weekend in Utah, and we're now in Oregon with my family. The kiddos are having a great time with everyone, and Paul and I are enjoying just being away from things to do (except for all the EKGs and research Paul brought with him to do...).
Life is good...
Any guesses on how long it will take Paul to get through the final Harry adventure?
Mom told me that you all would like to take a trip down the river trail with the kiddos. Count me in! We can stop by our place for some ice cream--or better yet, root beer floats if everyone would like!
Unless Paul can get some self-control (he says he really wants to read book 7 a little slower... since usually he speeds through it and it is over too soon)... I would say it would take him a full day. He spent part of yesterday's afternoon and the latter part of the night (12 to 4am) reading the Twilight book Hannah thought was so good. Hmmmm...
Melinda and Jonny... we are happy you are back from Peru, and excited to spend some time with you. A bike ride down the river trail sounds lovely... especially if it ends up at your place for root beer floats! It's a plan!
Is anyone wanting to come with us to the Harry Potter release party tomorrow night???????
stevie: thank you for respecting the sensitive nature of it all...
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