Reading

Another Harry Potter night and the last book published.

We did the whole Potter Party at the bookstore thing. Stood in line for hours until we finally got our book (at the grocery store).

At 1 am, I was tired of the crowds at the bookstore and physically beat, my youngest was cranky, the older boy was had lost his friends. It was time to go. Someone had come into the bookstore and told us the grocery store had plenty of HP books with no waiting. We all agreed, let's go. Ten minutes later we've bought the book and checking it out in the car. My older boy starting reading it aloud to us on the way home.

It was kind of sad, too. The last book. As my older boy said, I don't want it to end.

Yes, but all things must end, so enjoy them while you can. The HP hype has been interesting. I truly hope that more children and young adults are reading because of the Harry Potter phenomenon.

There was a mix of people at the bookstore. Of course, you had the school age kids with mom and dad. But there were a fair amount of high school age teenagers and young 20 somethings. I would bet half of the people in the store ranged in age between 12 and 30.

These are the readers that the NY publishers hope to catch. If the HP books are the start, then so be it. I think there has been an explosion of young adult titles in the past ten years. We've seen everything from the Pullman novels, to Charlie Bones to Eragon and Eldest, to the re-issueing of the Narnia books. My older son is reading the Alice in Wonderland books.

Anything that gets kids reading can't be bad.

I wonder how late the boys stayed up reading last night...? I went to bed. I only bought two copies. I can wait to read the book when the boys are done.

Life?

Life passes us by, stealing time away. It seems that the hour glass with sand dwindling away is a very appropriate metaphor, We watch our days seeping down and being lost to us. Do we ever savor the moment? Are we making a difference on this earth? Does anyone care about me?

Last week, I spent a sorrow-filled evening in a church with all ages of mourners paying their last respects to a young man. Caleb was only 21 and had tragically died in an accident.

In the everyday sense, he wasn’t a remarkable young man. He didn’t graduate from high school with honors. He wasn’t the captain of the football team and didn’t earn Eagle Scout. He didn’t play first chair violin in orchestra and didn’t star in the school play. He didn’t edit the school newspaper and wasn’t on yearbook staff. He was not on Quiz Bowl or the Chess Team.

But he was remarkable in his own way. He had the biggest heart and would do anything for his friends or family. He loved and was loved by many people. He may not have made a big difference in the world, but he did make a big difference in lives of those people.

The church was packed with hundreds of people of all ages. Fifty or more of his friends filled the balcony and many of the pews. Members of the church came to show their support to the family. Other mourners were like myself. We knew his parents, having lost touch with a young man out of his parents house. We came out of respect for his family.

But what did I see? People that Caleb had touched during his short lifetime. The service didn’t fill a football stadium, but it did fill the hearts of those present.

To paraphrase the wizard in The Wizard of Oz, we are not judged by how much we love, but by how much we are loved.

Surely if Caleb was judged at the pearly gates of heaven, God didn’t look at his academic or work record, but at the hearts that mourned the loss of the young man.

Rest in peace, Caleb.