The End of an Era

As I await Deathly Hallows Part II....

Speaking from the line at Cinemark, less than 6 hours from the Deathly Hallows release, I can say that it is definitely worth it to come well in advance and camp out. There is such an immense feeling of camaraderie and love, anticipation thrumming like lightning beneath every conversation and languid fanning hand. I’ve seen every character get some love in the costume department – among them Quirrel, Flitwick, the Grey Lady, the Golden Snitch, and even a mandrake. I’ve met some fantastic people, including yet another person with my same name. I’m roasting alive in my Hogwarts uniform, but it’s utterly worth it.

At less than 2 hours to go, I’ve actually been seated in the theater itself – the place where my childhood will well and truly end. I can’t tell if I’m excited or devastated for this final movie, because it means that Harry Potter really will come to an end. There are no more books (as far as we know), and there are no more movies. This is it. It’s been a good run.

Harry Potter has defined my life in ways that it is impossible to describe. I met my oldest friend through our mutual love of it, experienced fandom for the first time, learned what it was to be among my own kind, fellow obsessees that revere this saga to a religious level.

More than that, though, Harry Potter changed the world. How many billionaire authors are there, where their life story is nearly as famous as their books? What series inspired millions of children to shut off the television and pick up a book? What series inspired millions of parents to shut off the television and pick up a book? Which books were so popular, the New York Times had to create a separate children’s list so that they could stop dominating the main one?

And yet, beyond changing aspects of the real world, there’s the story to consider. Many of the plot devices (the Chosen One, Gotta Catch ‘Em All keys to defeating evil, a wise old mentor) we’ve head before, but not quite in this way. They’re put together into a masterpiece of a puzzle, filled with real, honest-to-goodness characters and jut plain great writing. Hermione was an icon to my friends and I as children, and continues to be a role model for us. She is smart, not necessarily pretty, able to have a platonic friendship with a friend who’s a boy, emotional, obnoxious, terribly afraid and strong despite it, badass, and overall real. It’s rare for me to see such a well-written and inspiring character. It’s rarer still for her to be as recognized as she is. And how about Dumbledore? He began as an eccentric, brilliant, wise wizard that was an authority figure and to Harry, and yet someone who understood him deeply. He became a very deep friend, someone to trust in though perhaps he didn’t tell one everything, and a mentor. Come the fifth book, Albus Dumbledore is made very sharply human, for all his wondrous abilities. Come the sixth book, he is mortal. And come the seventh, he is a tragically flawed, troubled youth that managed to turn out well despite everything, to be repulsive and yet wonderful, and again, overall, real. Snape, McGonagall, Ron, Ollivander, Dobby, Voldemort himself...the list goes on.

It’s beautiful.

There is little to compare to this moment for me. It is more momentous than my high school graduation, for this feels like a more solid closing of a phase of my life. It is more definable and more important. High school taught me information, but Harry Potter gave me an education.

Less than ten minutes now….I hardly know what to do, or think. I expect to be blown away. I expect to be lost for a time, and deeply saddened by the end.

Our time of discovery in this area has come to an end.

Farewell, Harry Potter. May you live in peace.

On Funerals and Death

"How we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life, wouldn't you say?"
Captain Kirk

July is a month of endings for me this year – today, or yesterday now, the space shuttle lifted off for the last time. In a little less than a week, Harry Potter will fully come to a close with the release of Deathly Hallows: Part II. This morning, I will lose one of the best friends I have ever had.

Many people have asked me about my strange love for funerals. They think it is unnatural, or weird, or a trait of a dark personality. Needless to say, I think rather differently. I love funerals because they are a gathering to celebrate a life, lived well or poorly, significant or ridiculous. They bring people together. It is not about being selfish, like the dividing of the estate sometimes is, it’s about honoring someone and having compassion for their spirit and for the ones they left behind.

Last summer, I attended a funeral for someone I barely knew and had a marvelous time. She had lived to the great age of ninety-five, and led quite a life. It was a bit sad to say goodbye, but I got to meet relatives that I’d only heard stories about, or never heard of at all. I made a lasting friend. I learned quite a bit more about my family history and its ties to the state of Nebraska. I learned much more about that lady than I had known before, and watched the art form that is a funeral. It was a very fulfilling experience, to say the least.

In a few hours I’ll face a much quieter affair, and one infinitely more personal. I’m already mourning for the one I’ll lose, but I am so glad I got the chance to be with him, and I know that we have had a good life together. Life will go on, but I will honor the dead by remembering. Because remembrance – that’s special. I wish that people were allowed to view their own funerals, because I often find that they are a vindication of everything good about that person, even if it was only a grain of sand in a sea of hurt and despair. Everyone deserves to know that they were special in some way, left some sort of imprint on the world. And then, there’s peace. Regardless of what you believe as far as the afterlife goes, there does seem to be some sort of ultimate peace. Whether it be heaven or just eternal slumber, at some point death must come as a relief from the burdens and pains of this world.

Lately, I’ve been reading a couple of books that deal with the idea of heaven. One was (apparently) a true story, and the other simply an imagining of what it might be like. It gives me hope that the one I lose will end up there and be cared for as he deserves, but more importantly, that he will be peaceful. It gives me hope that death is not all bad, and that one day I might see him again. It’s strange that he leaves me now, right as I’m about to embark on a new chapter of my life, but perhaps he knew that his part was done, that he had taught me all he could. And it’s small comfort to think of him as going to a better place, when I really want him to stay. But watching and waiting for death, like funerals, is not about me. It’s about doing the right thing for once, and giving a proper sendoff. Life marches on, but pausing in the wake of death is so necessary, and so worth it, to give us a further appreciation for our lives.

The funeral episode of Glee – that was beautiful, and a perfect example of why I do, truly, love funerals, and why dealing with death in a graceful way is so important. So here’s to death, the great equalizer. And here’s to life well lived.