The End of an Era

I'm warning you now: This post will get a little sappy. And I don't like sappy at all, so that's saying something.

It's only very recently hit me just how close it's getting to the end of a lot of things. Some things are really small and short term like the end of this weekend. The end of this mini summer semester of school. But there are other things that despite being close at hand have a whole other kind of magnitude that make them seem so much larger and more important. The end of my time as a teenager is 3 months from today. The end of waiting patiently (and more often than not impatiently) for LeakyCon to happen is July 13. The end of this fantastic journey I'm taking through Lena Gabrielle's beautiful and heart-wrenching music in The Final Battle is July 15. But possibly the most important thing happening this summer that signifies a real End of an Era (to quote the incredible Oliver Boyd and the Rememberalls song) is the final Harry Potter film.

Yes. That's right. This entire post is about Harry Potter. What else is new? =P

Seriously though, do you even know how long this phenomenon has been a part of our daily lives as a society? 13 years is well over half my life, and while I didn't read HP1 right away as a 6 or 7 year old (in fact, I wouldn't even touch the first book until I was 9) it's been in my environment almost as long as I can remember. I've been soaking it in through osmosis since it came out in '98, and the spark of magic that's lingered in the air since its burst onto the literature scene has never faded in all this time. Between the next book or a new movie, a wizard rock tour or that huge summer con, something new has always been around to revitalize it.

And while this is all well and good, I can't help but feel like something is about to end with this last movie. Yes, there will probably be more wizard rock concerts, there will probably be another con, but it's the last time something of this magnitude will be brought to the attention of not just the UK or the US but the entire world. It's the last time Harry will truly be the center of attention, as he should be.

On July 14 (yes, 14th. Be jealous ;P), when I step into that enormous theater in Orlando with thousands of Harry Potter fans as enthusiastic as I am, when we sit down as one, hours before the vast majority of the world, to watch our hero embark on his last adventure, something irreversible and inevitable will change in all of us.

Harry Potter won't fade away. That's not humanly possible for people like me who have dedicated so much of our lives to this phenomenal series. The Boy Who Lived will always live on in our hearts, in the pages of our books and in the disc drives of our computers. His message will forever be carried out and honored by the exemplary Harry Potter Alliance and the good works it does worldwide in his name. Hell, thousands upon thousands of people step right into his world daily at the theme park in Orlando. But something will change in us as the last film ends.

We'll forever be bonded by the story of our childhood and the knowledge that the weapon we have is love.

See you at LeakyCon =]

HPRT: The newest promotional posters for DH2 are bad ass. The Neville one especially is my favorite =]
Current Book: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
Current Song: I Wanna Go- Britney Spears Hunger Games Parody by WinterSpringPro and Luke Conard. You can watch the hilarious video here, and I suggest you do =]