Approaching the end of an era

Geesh, I think I might start crying as I type this! lol.  And I haven't even seen the movie yet!

The time is 4:14 pm, and as I write this, I am listening to the first track of the Deathly Hallows part 2 soundtrack, which is my all time favorite Harry Potter track ever composed! In just under four hours I'm going to cram myself into the kitchen of K3 and rewatch part one, and then, at 10:30 tonight, I and seven other fellow students (who have been arranging this much longer than I can even put into words) are going to head into Kingston, to the Odeon Theater, wait in line for Lord knows how long, and then, finally, sit in our theater and be amazed with 3D IMAX Harry Potter-ness that is starting PROMPTLY at 12:01am.  Yes.  PROMPTLY.  As in, no previews.

It's a bit nostalgic to look back on all of this.  Ten years of this, to be exact.  I can still, very clearly in my mind, remember all the minute details of that November night when I and eight or nine of my friends carpooled to Richmond and sat in a packed sold-out theater for approximately two hours before Deathly Hallows part 1 burst into life on the big screen in front of us.  I left the theater shellshocked, amazed, so...I don't even know how to describe it!  I was so completely enamoured at the two-and-a-half hours of sheer motion picture brilliancy that I had just witnessed!  I then remember thinking that July 15th seemed like a million years away.  And yet, it is here.  It has arrived. 

I've heard a lot of my friends I've met here say that they're so excited, and yet horribly sad, at the same time for the movie because they are saying goodbye to their childhood.  If my math is correct, the first book was released in 1997.  I was seven.  The first movie was released in 2001.  I was eleven.  I honestly don't even know WHEN I read the first book; all I know is that it was a Christmas present to my brother.  I honestly don't even know WHEN I saw the first movie. I honestly don't even know how I came to be in possession of all seven books, but, alas, I own all of them: books 1-3 in paperback and the rest in hardback (unless you count my British paperback copies of six and seven!!!!! :D).  But I distinctly remember all of the hype surrounding the seventh book; I had several friends go and wait in line at midnight to pick up a copy.  I remember the next day at Wal-Mart, with my mom and sister, it was on sale for $15, and my sister and I royally begged our poor mom to get it for us.  I read it in three days. 

Harry Potter holds a lot of dear memories to me: I remember reading Goblet of Fire out loud to my dog, Raven, who has since then passed on.  I remember my friend Sarah, having just read Dumbledore's unfortunate demise in Half-Blood Prince, telling me that Brian was killed in a car accident.  I remember reading Order of the  Phoenix and the last chapters of the book were so blurry because of me crying so much (I was a HUGE Sirius Black fan).  I remember my church youth group piling into Beth's jeep at 10-o-clock at night, on that foggy July night, and waiting in line for the midnight premier of Order of the Phoenix.  I remember it was my first time driving at night when I saw the midnight premier of Half-Blood Prince.  I remember that one night in Fairchild when my friends and I were just casually watching DHp1 on DVD again, just for the heck of it, and my best friend called me to inform me of the death of Osama bin Laden, and that everything was going to change.

So, heading into tonight, I don't really know what to expect.  While I feel that they could have included so much in  DHp1, it was still an amazingly well-done movie; far much better than I can even describe in this blog!  But I do know that I am beyond excited!  It's such a big deal over here; I've seen so many Harry Potter advertisements zooming by me on buses that I've practically lost count.  I'm excited to be experiencing this monumental moment in film history with new friends and being in the country where it all started!  I've already predicted the parts in the movie that will have me crying! lol. 

Anyway, I will blog again after I have seen the movie, but, even though I am seeing it five hours ahead of my dear American friends, I SWEAR that I will not give anything away. 

It's coming.  The end is almost here.  Let the magic live on.  And, as JK Rowling so beautifully said at the world premier last week, "Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home."  Cheers!

blessings, H