User blog comment:JoePlay/Wizarding World Giveaway/@comment-3198701-20110722063709

Harry Potter is not only tattooed on my skin, but on my heart. I picked up Sorcerer's Stone in the summer of 2001. I had just graduated from high school and my friends as well as my Uncle Robert (who was 65 years old at the time) were reading the series. I scoffed at them, thinking, "How can a children's book be THAT good!?" I've never been more glad to be wrong. I could not stop reading them and Harry soon became a major bonding point for me and my Uncle, who is like the father I should've had...the Dumbledore to my Harry, if you will. We would spend hours of every day discussing the films and the books, speculating what Jo would come out with next (which is something we do even to this day). In the fall of 2007, to commemorate the release of the Deathly Hallows book and the end of the series, I decided to get the Hogwarts crest and motto tattooed in color on the back of my neck. As I was sitting in the chair while it was being done, I realized that the tattoo wasn't just to mark the end of Harry's journey, but a tribute to my Uncle and how much he's done for me. I wouldn't have had a childhood if it wasn't for his love, hard work, and unselfishness and I certainly wouldn't know Harry, Ron, and Hermione as well as I do now. As soon as I showed my new tattoo to my Uncle and told him why I got it, he was speechless. There were tears in his eyes, but he just smiled and said, "It's so bright and colorful...it's just perfect." To me, Harry Potter's story transcends mere literature and film. It has solidified the bond between my Uncle and I forever. I will always be grateful to Jo Rowling and to Harry for that gift.