User blog comment:JoePlay/Wizarding World Giveaway/@comment-4151521-20110715174709

To me, Harry Potter means a chance at a new life, because it saved mine. When I was 7 years old, my mother was diagnosed with Lung Cancer. She battled it for almost three years, and when I was in fourth grade I began reading the Harry Potter books. When I was nine my mother lost her battle, and my family went into a turmoil. My father fell into a depression and wasn't able to work for 9 years. It was during this time that I completely immersed myself in the world of Harry Potter. I was able to escape my real life problems and enter a world that was completely beautiful. Instead of having to think about the fact that I was a growing girl that no longer had a mother, and that I would have to spend the rest of my life without the most important person in a young girls life, I could disappear into the world of Harry Potter, and my problems were no longer be present. While my father battled with the fact of losing the love of his life, I curled up in a Harry Potter book for hours so I no longer had to watch him suffer. While he struggled with figuring out how to finacially support us without having a job, I once again, disappeared. While I was maliciously bullied at school (much like Severus Snape, my favorite character), I entered the world of Harry Potter and suddenly those kids didn't exist. I honestly and truly believe that if I didn't have Harry Potter in my life I would have committed suicide, because I wouldn't have something to relieve my from those demons, even if it was temporarily. I cite Jo Rowling as one of the reasons I am alive today. A trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter would make my dreams come true. Obviously, being financially unable to plan a trip myself, winning a trip like this, and getting the opportunity to actually view the world that saved me...I honestly can't put it in to words. I stand now, 18 years old, strong, because of what Harry Potter has done for me. I will never be able to thank Jo Rowling enough for what she has done, because she has saved my life.