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Health & Fitness

Thank You, J.K. Rowling

A thank you for something magical, from the Muggle Momma.

On July 15, the last movie based on the Harry Potter series will be released. My family will be attending, and while I am looking forward to it, part of me is a bit sad and a bit regretful. Harry Potter entered my world first at work. The brilliant Children's librarian at the , Nancy Demme, believed that it wasn't just going to be big—it was going to make history in children's books. I forget her exact words, but when the first copies arrived at our branch, they flew out again, as if on the broomsticks of Hogwarts. The waiting lists were epic and we had to wait for weeks for our copy, but when it arrived, we (all three—Dad, Desi and I) would curl up in bed and read it together. Desi was eight, but it was a beloved tradition for us.

If she had been shaky about reading, J.K. Rowling was the perfect bait. She'd taken on the Hobbit by herself, but something about that first book demanded a family reading. When it was done, there was the wait for the next... and the next. So I started buying her each one as it came out. By book four, she was on her own: we simply couldn't read it as fast as she could alone. And we discovered that they would drop the book on our doorstep the DAY it came out.

When the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, came out, Desi spent the night on the hallway floor, wrapped in a blanket. She was desperate to read it, and I had ordered it from Amazon. That meant she couldn't go to the Barnes and Noble Party for the midnight release, and she was afraid to go online, for fear of spoilers. At noon, she was frantic—no knock. I opened the front door, and there it was, on our doorstep. We had no idea how they delivered it without her hearing—she was up at 6 a.m. But there it was.

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She consumed it in a day and a half. We saw the movies as they were released. We cheered for Dobby, the House Elf. We hissed at the Malfoys. We wept over Dumbledore, and rooted for Harry and the kids. And now, with the last movie, the end comes for not just an amazing book, but an era for my family. My daughter will be 20 in two weeks. In a very real way, she grew up with Harry.

So I wanted to say thank you, to the lady who made so many magical moments possible. I watched kids at our branch who NEVER wanted to read suddenly DEVOUR each new installment. I know, she made a fortune, but still. Children read, or were read to. Parents enjoyed it as well. The last movie will not be childish fare. Desi and I will pack tissues. We know what's coming. But I still say thank you, J.K. Rowling, for every person who was touched by your amazing tale. Our lives were richer for it!

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