A New Chapter

So, this month is bringing a lot of changes. Some things are ending and others beginning. And it all is happening while I'm going through the end of the Harry Potter franchise. I know it seems silly to compare moving, or turning in my thesis to the final installation of a series of books and movies, but it's all very intertwined for me.

I began reading Harry Potter somewhere around the age of twelve or thirteen I will say. This means that for 11 or 12 years of my life I have always had a new book or movie to look forward to. Even after the books ended about four years ago and there was no NEW story left for me to uncover there was still anticipation and hype. It's like the story wasn't over until I saw the story which had been playing in my imagination completely played out in real life. So, for 12 years I had this. Now I no longer do.

At the age of twelve children are beginning to grow into the adults they will become. Sure early childhood is important, but when you get to the point where you can understand all of the emotions, empathize with others and learn more complex lessons than the difference between good and evil in the story, it affects you more. And at first, at least, the main characters were roughly the same age as me. We grew up together. Now, they are gone and I need to close the chapter that was the formative years of my life and move into the next.

This is all happening at the same time I turned in my MA thesis and will be moving out of the state I've lived my whole life. Even though I have been living two hours away for the past two years, this move is MUCH bigger. I am going to be teaching my class in Kentucky. I will be living in an adult community. I will be saying goodbye to my best friends. In a way, as I am leaving Michigan, I am also leaving the comfort of Hogwarts behind. As I bid a fond farewell to my friends in Michigan, I am also saying goodbye to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and everyone else. The final movie is sort of like an allegory for my larger life changes that are taking place. I am sad and scared to leave Chapter 2 of my life, The Formative Years, of which Harry Potter was such a large part, and begin Chapter 3, Sam's Early Adulthood.