User blog comment:JoePlay/Wizarding World Giveaway/@comment-4181797-20110721135624

I realize looking back now that my love of Harry Potter has given my kids a passed down passion for reading. They both also love to write.

They grew up watching me read Harry Potter. I read PoA in my youngest daughter’s bedroom while sitting in her bed watching her fall asleep. She was three years old at the time, and wrestling with a short term bout of insomnia. The shrieking shack scene started to unfold, and I was so awed I had to lay the book down for a couple of seconds and walk teeny circles around her room. She’d just fallen asleep and I didn’t want to wake her, at the same time though the pages were literally jumping off the page., and my mind was in a whirl. That book is pure poetry.

Watching me read the books, they’ve learned what makes a good character, and how to breathe life into something you’re writing. One summer we were playing pretend, and I sent my oldest daughter a Hogwarts letter. I’d made it look so real my youngest daughter started to cry when she realized it had all just been a game. The books amaze me that bind you so closely the people in them, and the places they live, that there is no way that you can convince themselves they’re not real. I openly cried for Harry for three days straight when Sirius died. My husband can’t read the parts when Ron and Hermione almost miss getting together, because it reminds him of times when we were younger that we could have missed out opportunity if we hadn’t held on with faith and waited for maturity to take hold. I can’t ever seem to figure out which Weasley male is the cutest..so, I’m lucky I don’t have to choose because I’ve got my very own Weasley-esque husband. We never have money, but that’s ok because we always feel like we’re living at the The Burrow…we have strength, and love, and fun. My daughters also learned it was ok to embrace their individuality. It even helped me in late in life to realize the same. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Luna, a Tonks, or a Ginny.. all girls are wonderful in their own way.

The books also always remind me of friendship. The characters themselves feel like my lifelong friends. I made friends during the books with people who shared my same interest. And, things like friendship, and humility, and valuing the little things in life are so important. …the key core things that gives us our humanity. It’s all about balance .. the yin and yang of life… with hard work, and raucous play time ..and with a little luck thrown in, life is a very worthwhile thing.