IT'S THE BEGINNING OF THE END: HARRY POTTER IS NO MORE!

I have been a little depressed lately, things haven't been the same around here.  I feel a little lost and I finally figured out why. One might not attribute the ending of the Harry Potter series with the ending of their life as they know it, but I DO.  It's over! And this means it's the beginning of the end of my life as I know it.  We were first introduced to Harry Potter when Maddie was five, we had just moved to Woodstock, IL and signed her up for school.  She said she went to school and all these kids are talking about this Harry Potter guy and she had no idea who he was.  So once that was clarified that he was a fictional character that performed awe inspiring feats of magic and not the boy sitting in the next room, Harry has been with us ever since.  And if you are keeping track, that is now 12 years. Meaning - life as I know it.  We grew up with Harry Potter, i mean my kids did and now that the end is here,   my life is over, as I know it.


Harry Potter and company in the beginning:

My children - in the beginning:

Last month I went and saw the last movie in the Harry Potter series - twice. Yes, twice.  and I was strikingly saddened by it all, but couldn't put my finger on it, i mean it's just a movie, right?  I've known the ending for years now - I read the book for goodness sake, so why was I so sad?  Then it dawned on me: truly the ending of Harry Potter is the beginning of the end.  We've spent the last 8 years here, that's from when Madison was 9 and Samantha was 11, that would be their entire teenage years, here on the farm, learning new things, homeschooling, going to high school and now college, raising ducks, rabbits, chickens, goats, birds, rats, cats, dogs, ferrets, fish, hermit crabs, horses and learning to ride. Having horses in their lives has been such an incredible experience that it certainly changed them deeply.  As Maddie once said, " If a girl can push around a 1000 lb. horse, she's never gonna let a man push her around!"

Now - it's over.




Harry and gang, now:

My girls, now:

It's over!  Do you know what that means? It means that the kids will be leaving me soon and they will no longer need me. WAAAAAAAHHH! I can't stand this! 

Samantha moved out last year after graduating high school, and then shortly there after Everett passed away.  So half our family left the farm and now  Madison is planning her escape.  We barely showed the horses this year, Maddie didn't want to and Sam just did a few in the spring - we used to do that nearly every weekend.  We didn't do 4H this year - that meant no fair.  We didn't go camping as much as i wanted and now that the camper is dead, i don't know what we'll do, buy a tent I guess, which is REALLY depressing.  See? It's the beginning of the end of my life as I know it.  So now what?  Now what am I supposed to do?  My children will all be gone, I won't get to be around them all the time, it's just me and Bob left here to TRY and keep up with the farm, which we can't even do now!  It's no wonder I am sad.

Perhaps I'll just find some kids to rent.