Remember, remember the fifth of November. The gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.
Remember that you have the power to change the world, if only you fight for what you believe is good and right.
Still feeling a little down in the dumps about the epic Harry Potter finale? Not to worry, friends. The lovely and hilarious Mamrie Hart is here to rescue us from the doldrums with her Flaming Butterbeer recipe. I’ve watched this probably 10 times and laughed hysterically every time. Enjoy.
Dear JK,
Thank you for my childhood.
I’m sure you hear this all the time from your legions of adoring fans across the globe, of which I am just one, but I cannot thank you enough for the truly precious gift you have given me. Never again will I receive one so special and so beautiful. I am lucky to have grown up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione – something I will always treasure and will never forget.
Through your words, you have taught us the lessons of love and friendship, loyalty, trust, and bravery. Equally you have shown the problems that are created by hatred, jealousy, and ignorance. You have taught us that death isn’t something to be feared; it is not the worst thing that can happen to us. More than that, though, you have taught me how to use words. That they mean something bigger than myself. You have taught me the inexhaustible power and magic of words. I am reminded that we need stories. We need imagination. When the world around us becomes too difficult to bear, we can escape into a world that’s entirely our own.
I am constantly in awe of your seemingly endless, astounding creativity, your meticulous organization, and your dedication to your convictions. You show us what it means to dedicate yourself to something; but beyond that, to do it well.
Should I ever decide to write professionally, I can only hope to achieve a fraction of your brilliance, for I can never hope to equal something so perfect. I am proud to say, though, that Harry lives on in me, as he does in everyone who has met him.
Thank you, again, for my childhood.
In case you’re not caught up with HP in preparation for the finale tomorrow, here is a quick visual guide of everything that’s happened so far. Thanks to the genius Lucy Knisley and her kickass artistic skills. She worked really hard on them, as you can tell by the accuracy of the storyline, the wit of the puns, and the brilliance of the drawings. I’m totally in awe of her talent.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Should I ever decide to get a tattoo, it will be of the Deathly Hallows. I cannot think of anything better to represent not only Harry Potter, my childhood, and my relationship with books and imagination, but also my belief that love is the most important thing in the world. Love is the thing that survives beyond death, and is the thing that binds us together.
To quote Don Juan de Marco: “There are four questions of value in life: What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only love.”
There are so many lessons to be learned from Harry Potter and his world, too many to summarize here. But if anything was to symbolize my feelings toward it, the Deathly Hallows would more than suffice.
I’m breaking tradition a bit today. Instead of a list of ten things, it’s only seven. And in keeping with this week’s Harry Potter theme, I thought I’d list all the books in the order that they are my favorite. If asked, I can rattle off this list like I’m reciting a phone number: 3761542.
1. Prisoner of Azkaban (3). I can’t even begin to explain how much I love PoA. It might have something to do with the fact that I have a very fond spot for Remus Lupin, or that I so want to get my hands on the Marauder’s Map. Whatever the reason, this book has always, always been my favorite since it came out. The fascinating concept of time-travel and the unbelievable revelations about Harry’s past and his family make this the absolute best of the series. Even if there were seven more books written, I think PoA would always be #1 in my heart.
2. Deathly Hallows (4). There’s probably more than one of you that would disagree with me about putting DH so high on a list of favorite HP books. I’ve heard many a person describe the book as “bad fanfiction.” And while, stylistically, it isn’t the best, it’s not meant to be like any other book. Harry and his friends are older now, considered adults in the wizard world. I missed Hogwarts, of course, but there are bigger things to deal with now. The school makes a triumphant return in the end, of course, but, as we all know, it isn’t the main setting of the finale. The safest place for Harry is on the run, looking for the things that will ultimately bring down Voldemort. So why do I love this book so much? I love the Tale of the Three Brothers. I love the complexity of the Horcrux treasure hunt. I love that, in Harry absence, underground rebellion has taken firm hold under the leadership of Neville Longbottom. I love that we finally understand the dichotomy of Snape’s nature. And I love that it ends just as it should.
3. Half-Blood Prince (6). The first time I read HBP, I didn’t like it so much. I think I just read through it too quickly and missed so much of what was actually in it. Maybe it had something to do with the misunderstood and loathsome actions of Severus Snape. A few summers ago, when I went back and read all seven books in a row for the first time, I fell in love with HBP for the first time, the second time around. There isn’t as much action in this one, of course, but the backstory behind Voldemort (and some of Snape, as well), makes this one of the most heartbreaking and fascinating chapters in the series. I cannot say enough good things about HBP. I don’t know how I didn’t see it all before, but I’m glad that I finally realized what I was missing.
4. Sorcerer’s Stone (1). One of my favorite things about our introduction to the wizarding world is that we see it alongside Harry for the first time. Growing up in a Muggle home, he discovers the wonders of Hogwarts and his new life with us. It just seems that much more magical, to see it all for the first time, and you can’t see it all for the first time except in SS. This book, more than any other, was impressive for the creativity of the magic invented (transfigured chess sets, the Mirror of Erised, a cloak of invisibility, Quidditch).
5. Order of the Phoenix (5). Phoenix stands at this point in the list because of Dolores Umbridge, the single-most evil, vicious character I have ever read within the pages of a book. Yes, even more than Voldemort, I think. While Voldemort is the embodiment of evil and hatred, Umbridge is a special kind of mean: the kind that will kill you with that sticky-sweet, well-meaning, all-controlling power. I have never, ever in my life hated anyone so much (until I met the dean of students at my college, who is Umbridge in the flesh). In addition, the teenage moodiness that was so prevalent in this book got to be a little much at times. Granted, that’s normal for 15-year-olds, especially ones who have witnessed terrible things recently. I did appreciate learning more about the Order and Harry’s parents and friends in the old days, but the death of a beloved character makes this an emotional installment.
6. Goblet of Fire (4). GoF is kind of like the middle child, forgotten and left out. Which is funny because it’s right in the middle of the series, too. While the Triwizard Tournament and the saga of Barty Crouch/Mad Eye Moody are epic and fascinating, and despite the fact that Voldemort finally regains his body and power in this book, to me, it was sort of just a blip on the radar, waiting to get us to year 5.
7. Chamber of Secrets (2). It’s not that I dislike CoS, I just like it the least of all the books. Maybe it was all the creepy snakes and spiders all the time. Maybe it was the traditional sophomore slump. Whatever the case, it’s just not my favorite in the series. Of course, it is important to the whole story, otherwise it wouldn’t have been included (think: Horcruxes). But in the grand scheme of things, it ranks at the bottom of my list.
So there you have it. A concise, and hopefully clear, summation of my feelings about each book. Although I don’t think I’ll ever be able to put into words exactly what I feel about Harry Potter, this is at least a small attempt. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must get back to my movie-watching.
I like reading Huffington Post because they often have interesting articles on everyday topics. I’m kicking off Harry Potter week today while, like most of the world, counting down to the finale. I’m going to try to attempt to put into words how I feel about the series. In the meantime, here’s a wonderful article on Harry Potter as it relates to Christian theology.
See the original post here.
In an attic apartment during my last year of graduate school at Yale, I ate pizza with two friends and crafted a syllabus for the Harry Potter and Christian Theology course. My plan: de-emphasize witchcraft — which previously dominated Christian perspectives on the series — and focus on a variety of other topics in theology, including forgiveness, salvation and grace. Reframing would allow for richer, deeper analysis, letting students visit not just one small country but the entire globe of theology so that they could decide for themselves whether the books supported a Christian worldview.
But the proposal initially met with skepticism. Popular culture isn’t often included in a liberal arts curriculum, nor is an introduction to theology typically taught alongside literature many perceive to be for children. In fact, one student who participated in the selection process said of my idea: “The committee had a good laugh over the Harry Potter proposal” because it was “not something you could talk about for 13 weeks.”
And yet, between 2,000 years of theologians with their fast-firing synapses, logical savvy and critically constructed thoughts, and seven volumes of J.K. Rowling’s nuanced prose, there is more than enough fodder for discussion. Consider, for instance, whether there’s a God-figure in the series. This is the first issue my students question and it becomes the fundamental one in the course. Classical theologians define God using three characteristics: omnipotence, omniscience and omnibenevolence (otherwise known as the Three Os). Yet it’s hard to think of a person within the series who possesses all three qualifications.
Every potential Christ-figure in the series falls short of at least one criterion. Harry, for instance, lacks full knowledge (omniscience) or he would have known the whereabouts of all the Horcruxes, while Dumbledore lacks omnipotence, or else he would have had the power to defeat the Death Eaters and their Dark Lord himself. Lily Potter’s death — while making her fully human — precludes her from being fully divine on the omnipotence count, and Severus Snape lacks not only in omniscience but also in omnibenevolence. Every character my students consider meets obstacles such as these.
Yet what if the search for a God-figure wasn’t limited to people? After all, God is ephemeral, transcendental, somehow beyond human. Looking for God beyond human form opens the possibility that something more abstract might fit the bill, something like love. Many of my students come to the conclusion that love is the closest approximation to God in Harry Potter, in part because God is defined as love in Christian tradition (1 John 4:16). Of course it goes without saying that love is all-good, but love also guides the operation and has the power to defeat Voldemort. Even in the first book, the reader sees evidence of love’s God-likeness when Dumbledore tells Harry:
Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn’t realize that love as powerful as your mother’s for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no not a visible sign … to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good (SS, 299).
Intriguingly, love’s identity as something God-like within the series is a departure from other 20th-century fantasy books with theological overtones, most notably “The Chronicles of Narnia,” which depict God as a being (i.e. Aslan). This fact is not lost on my students. Why is that significant? My sense is that presenting God as an abstract concept resonates for many non-Christians who live in an era of skepticism. In other words, to describe God like this tracks for contemporary seekers in our scientific age who shy away from personifications of God because they feel too unrealistic.
Interestingly, if God is imaged as a force, the devil is not. In our section on Eucharistic theology, the moment when Voldemort regains his body with Wormtail’s invocation grabs my students’ attention:
Flesh — of the servant — w-willingly given — you will — revive your master … B-blood of the enemy … forcibly taken … you will … resurrect your foe (GOF, 641-2).
Few miss the connection when they then read Jesus’ lines at the Last Supper: “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me” and “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant of my blood” (NRSV, Lk. 22:19-20). It seems as if Voldemort’s words are quite literally the opposite of Jesus’: Whereas Jesus gives his body and blood for the eternal life of many, Voldemort demands the bodily sacrifices of many for his own revival. In this way, he is quite literally the opposite of Jesus.
Intriguingly, in the last moments of Voldemort’s life, Harry gives his anti-Christ enemy a last chance at redemption: “I’d advise you to think about what you’ve done,” Harry says. “Think, and try for some remorse” (DH, 741). So it would seem that when it comes to forgiveness, even the most damaged creatures in the wizarding world are given the possibility of wholeness if they repent. Restoration, then, is not for a chosen elect but for those who take the opportunity to choose.
If salvation is offered to all in the Harry Potter series, there is still the matter of figuring out who does the saving in the Harry Potter series. In Christian theology, it is Jesus who saves through his work on the cross and resurrection. Most Christians define Christ as being fully God and fully human, largely thanks to the medieval reflections of Anselm of Canterbury. For Christ to be fully human means that Jesus cognitively developed over time just like any child maturing to adulthood does, and it also means that he was made of flesh as vulnerable as ours. For Jesus to be fully God means he possesses the same Three O characteristics mentioned above.
So, is there anyone in the series that meets these criteria? The short answer is: No, there is not, for the same reasons that there was no person who functioned as a God-figure in the series. No one is quite godly enough.
Yet in order to discern a Christ-figure, it’s necessary to evaluate not only who Jesus is but also the work that he does. For some, salvation is accomplished in Jesus’ defeat of evil, which is done during a cosmic battle in Hell between his death and resurrection. That defeat meant that evil, no matter how powerful, could no longer trump God’s loving power. A different perspective — and probably the most commonly held one — states that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was an act of supreme obedience offered in order to free humans from the power of sin. (Some Christians would understand just one of the previous theologies to define salvation, whereas others would resonate with a variety.)
While these are two of several major theologies of salvation, the reader can see that these ideas are certainly present in the Harry Potter series. Dumbledore, while neither omnipotent nor — due to his younger years — omnibenevolent, teaches Harry about the power of love and, in that way, procures salvation for the wizarding world. Similarly, Neville, Ron, Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, Ginny, Luna and a host of others work together to defeat evil in the final battle at Hogwarts. Likewise, Harry, in his walk through the Forbidden Forest, subscribes to the radical obedience to death typified in Anselm’s theory.
Curiously, what the Harry Potter books do is to accomplish the work of Christ utilizing a whole community instead of a single person, which explains why no individual character closely resembles Jesus. This means that salvation is accomplished not by one person but by many people working together, with love (aka God) for a guide. Ethically, a theology like this has important implications because it empowers people — both in Harry’s world and our own — to live the life compassion for which Jesus lived and died.
What do students think of ideas like this? Over the years I’ve offered the Christian Theology and Harry Potter class, students consistently rank it a favorite, regardless of their faith tradition. This may be because my students treasure any excuse to re-read their favorite saga, but my sense is that the real reason for the course’s success runs deeper than that: The subjects theology tackles — what the purpose of evil is, whether we can maintain relationships beyond the grave, what forgiveness looks like — are the ones that keep our minds racing at 2 a.m., when we’re wrapped in warm blankets and sipping hot milk for comfort. Yet without a vocabulary — Christian or otherwise — to express those questions, it’s hard to find lasting resolution or peace. That’s why I tell my students that I know Harry Potter brought them to the class, but I hope that theology keeps them there, because questions about how much we love our neighbor or how much we embrace diversity are worth some curiosity, whether one is planning to become an elementary school teacher or a cardiologist. In other words, while I don’t expect or encourage my students to embrace the Christian faith, I do ask them to consider the kinds of questions that faith demands.
At the end of the first year that I taught the Christian theology and Harry Potter course, one of my sophomores asked if she could speak with me. She came from a secular background, a home in which religion was a banned topic. “Your class gave me a way to talk about questions of ultimate meaning,” she said. “I never had that before.”
I left smiling that day. It was the highest compliment she could have offered.
Despite a couple of random updates the past couple of days, I’ve spent the long holiday weekend in Hilton Head, visiting Amanda. I finished work on Tuesday, went to Abingdon with Alli on Wednesday, spent Thursday framing a painting and doing other such errands in town, and then left early on Friday to drive to the beach. It’s been a lovely vacation, and I even came back with a tan! That’s unusual for me, if you’re familiar with my long tradition of lobster-like sunburns, despite my genetic history.
Anyway, for a beach recap, which included great shopping and even better food.
Like I said before, I drove down on Friday to see Amanda. I stopped in Spartanburg on the way to have lunch with Melody. I haven’t had a good, long conversation with her in a long time, so it was nice to catch up. She’s still in the process of looking for a house in Charlotte, a project that doesn’t seem to be making much progress. I told her about my recent potential roommate drama and my upcoming DC trip. We ate at Groucho’s a fun little deli I haven’t been to in ages. At the end, we even signed the wall, representing FM ’08 and ’09. Melody added the famous Lost number sequence, because no autograph wall is complete without it.
The drive between Spartanburg and Hilton Head was pretty uneventful. There was some traffic outside of Columbia, headed toward the beach, of course, but other than that, nothing much going on. Just long stretches of highway, flanked by trees. That’s the thing about driving to the beach – it’s flat and kind of boring. I made it down to the island, though, to meet Amanda for dinner. She’d heard about this great restaurant called Skull Creek Boathouse from one of her OT clients and wanted to check it out. She loves seafood almost as much as I do, and you can’t go to the beach without getting prime seafood. We had such incredible food. We got coconut shrimp and tuna tartare nachos for appetizers. We had a pretty hard time deciding which ones we wanted; honestly, we probably could have made a huge meal on just appetizers alone. Those nachos were amazing – think sushi meats nachos. Sounds weird, I know, but it was just incredible. I would have been happy to stop there, but I got a Calibogue casserole for dinner. It was basically a seafood pot pie – flaky pastry filled with shrimp, crab, scallops, whitefish and mushrooms in a lobster cream sauce. Add in a Rum Runner to drink – what more do you want?
After dinner we drove back to her apartment to let her dog out and unpack my stuff. Her dog, Bear, is so cute, and he’s gotten so big since I last saw him! He’s some kind of shepherd mix, and he’s so bouncy and adorable. I guess he’s kind of my adopted nephew. Anyway, after some down time to digest our food, we ventured back out to go see a movie. We saw Bad Teacher, which was pretty funny. I hadn’t been that interested in seeing it, but it was decent, and I wanted to be a good houseguest. It was a laid-back night because we were both tired, Amanda from working, and me from driving.
The next morning, we woke up and had a leisurely breakfast of eggs and biscuits. We also made a picnic lunch to take with us to the pool at the apartments. We got out swimsuits on and hauled everything out to the pool, where we basically camped for the rest of the day. It was hot as balls outside, obviously, but the pool made it so nice. I applied sunscreen religiously, which is thankfully how I ended up more tan than red. We had our outside lunch sitting in pool chairs and basically just vegged out the whole day.
After going back to the apartment to get cleaned up, we headed out for some late outlet shopping. They have two big Tanger outlets there with some of my favorite stores. Amanda and I both found some pretty cute stuff. We even ended up with matching bracelets – totally unplanned, of course. We had dinner that night at Kobe, one of those Japanese places where they cook right in front of you. I’ve been to those places before, but this was maybe the best one I’ve ever eaten at. I don’t know if it was the shrimp sauce or the fresh seafood, but it was just amazing. The leftovers that I had the next day for breakfast were possibly even better than the first meal. Anyway, our shrimp and scallop stir fry was amazing, and I even caught a shrimp in my mouth when the chef tossed it to me! Granted, it took me three tries to get it right, but I still did it. And no one else wanted to attempt it, so I was pretty proud of myself.
Sunday was our beach day. We ate our Japanese leftovers for breakfast and headed onto the Island for some shopping and lunch at Coligny Plaza. There were some beachy shops that we wandered through. I bought a pretty Peruvian ring and got some UV-sensitive nail polish, meaning it changes color in the sun. We ate lunch at The Frosty Frog, known for its pizza and daquiris. As in, put it in a styrofoam cup and take it with you. Which is exactly what we did. We took our huge daquiris right down to the beach, which took a while, considering all the annoying drivers and obnoxious parking. We finally made it, though, and spent the rest of the day out on the beach. We were pretty far down from the main public beach entrance, so there wasn’t a huge crowd around us. The water was warm but not uncomfortable. It was a relaxing day of reading, drinking, and tanning.
On our way back from the beach, we stopped at Sweet Carolina Cupcakes for some sweet treats. I got a couple of different kinds to eat leisurely over the next couple of days. Back to the apartment to shower and rest, and then it was out again for dinner. I have to devote an entire paragraph to it, because it’s likely my last supper meal. Seriously, if I could have one last meal before I died, it would be from Red Fish, just off the island. I’ll just list everything for you. Albarino wine. Hot, crusty bread with a cilantro-lime pesto sauce and butter. Blue crab dip with tortilla chips and Cuban bread. Shrimp and grits with chorizo gravy, fried okra and sauteed kale. Seared jumbo scallops with lobster macaroni, asparagus and proscuitto. Seriously, the only thing that could have made that better would be creme brulee. And believe me, they have it. We just didn’t have room for it. Without a doubt, one of the best meals of my life. I wish I could eat there all the time.
After such a fabulous meal, there was nothing left to do but go home and sleep it off, dreaming of the next gastronomic adventure. The next morning, we got up early and took Bear to the beach. It was his first time seeing the ocean, and I don’t know that he quite knew what to think of it. He liked the water so long as it wasn’t coming right up at him. He liked chasing his ball across the sand, too. But what he really loved was the attention he got from everyone around him. In Amanda’s words, he thinks that everyone loves him. And everyone should, because he’s so cute and friendly and silly. It was a fun morning. After that, we looked for a dog-friendly restaurant to have brunch. We ended up at Skillets, which allowed dogs on their very nice open patio and even had a dog menu! My skillet was called the kitchen sink, and included two fluffy, buttery pancakes with real syrup, bacon, sausages, skillet potatoes, and poached eggs. Two perfecty poached eggs, that when cut open the runny yolk slides down over everything, creating that sweet and salty goodness that comes with mixing pancakes, eggs, and bacon.
After our lunch and a quick trip to Petco, we headed out for more afternoon pool time. Thank goodness I brought along my music and a long book – I definitely got in some great reading time! We didn’t spend as much time out there that day, because, being the 4th of July, we had some fireworks to watch that night. We left the pool. showered, and headed out to meet Amanda’s roommate, Rachel, and her boyfriend, Eric, and one of the local resorts. We picked them up and headed out to Sea Pines to have dinner and watch the fireworks. There were tons of people out there, of course. We ate at a seafood restaurant, where I got a plate full of fried shrimp, scallops, catfish, hush puppies, the works. I figured that was the one kind of seafood I hadn’t had since I’d been at the beach, so why not? A couple of cold beers and I was good to go. The fireworks were set off right over the yacht club harbor, which was really nice to see out over the water. Lots of people were watching from their boats, and all honked their horns and made noise after the fireworks show was over. Getting back to the car took forever, because everyone at the resort had all been bussed up from the parking lots. We must have waited in line for over an hour. It was a good bonding experience, and I was determined to keep a good attitude, instead of complaining like I normally would have. We eventually made it back home, not too terribly late, and all headed off to bed.
I got up early the next morning and left town. Amanda had to be back at work early that morning, and she took Bear to dog camp that day, so I didn’t see either one of them that morning. Before I left town, I made one last stop at the outlets to hit up some stores we didn’t have time for on our first trip. I’d found a Polo shirt for my brother, and wanted to go back and make sure I really couldn’t find the one he’d described that he really wanted. I stopped in Columbia on my way home to drop off his present to him. It was his first day at his month-long pharmacy rotation, so I didn’t stay but a minute to drop it off. The trip home was good, and uneventful. I was home less than 24 hours before I headed out on the road again, this time to DC. I didn’t even bother to unpack, besides taking out my dirty clothes. This current trip is a story for another day, though. Until then, happy belated 4th, and happy summer travels to all!
So, just a little belated update on my recent social activities. Last Tuesday was my last day of work, so to celebrate this new freedom, Alli and I drove up to Abingdon to see Beauty and the Beast at the Barter Theatre. She’s also moving soon – to Spartanburg, in fact – for med school. We decided to see the show as one of our last get-togethers before we both move away. Alli is probably the biggest Disney fanatic I know, and Beauty and the Beast just happens to be her favorite show, so of course she was up for seeing it as soon as I mentioned it.
We left pretty early in the morning, to have time to eat lunch and walk around downtown a little before the show started. We ate lunch at this little Italian restaurant in town, which was just okay. I’m not really familiar with the Abingdon area, so I didn’t really know much about restaurants and such when we got there. We had a leisurely lunch and caught up on our respective family dramas and sagas. Afterwards we walked to some of the shops downtown, which wasn’t many. You’d think somewhere with a cute little downtown and a well-known theater company would have better shopping, but I guess we just weren’t in the right area. Whatever.
The main reason we were there, of course, was to see the show. It definitely did not disappoint. There were tons and tons of kids there, which shouldn’t have been surprising, considering that it’s a family show. There were quite a few little girls dressed up in costumes, which was really cute. The show itself was fabulous; I’ve never seen the Broadway version of B&tB before, but this was pretty far up there as far as quality. If you’re in the area and can make it to a show, I’d highly recommend it. It was faithful to the Disney version of the story, while adding its own live-performance flair. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to any kind of play or show, and this was definitely a great way to make up for the deficit.
After the show we found a little bakery for dessert; we’d been on the search for cupcakes, but that proved fruitless. I had a mini key lime pie, which was delicious, probably the best I’ve ever had. My mouth is still drooling just thinking about it.
All in all, quite a successful and fun day. I always enjoy my time with Alli, and this extended day together made up for all the time we haven’t been able to spend together lately. It’s weird knowing that she’s moving, as well, but I’ve consoled myself by making her a handy little map of things she should see and do while living in Spartanburg.
