Stress

We all feel stress. Sometimes we feel the need to stress.

I do not know if it is worse when you impose stress upon yourself through your own expectations, or when family members impose unnecessary stress upon one another. I am particularly stressed out by my grandparents, who are currently taking turns residing in the hospital. They have both been out and at home for the past few weeks, thanks be, but then again, no. I’ll grant you that both of them have grown increasingly…agitated in their old age, but I did not realize how much they hated each other. It is ridiculous and petty and stressful because they both have heart conditions and I really don’t want them to kill each other over who ate the last of the Cheerios. I know, I ask so much.

I feel the need to stress that, upon further reflection, I really enjoyed the final installment of the Harry Potter movie series. Of course much of this fondness is linked to my overall fondness of the books, movies, fan sites, fan fiction, and overall cultural phenomenon of Harry Potter that both consumed and defined my later childhood years. I grew up with Harry Potter and I cannot help but feel that, as he has grown into a true adult, that now I must let go and do the same.

One aspect of the most recent film that really struck me that I did not get out of the books—and perhaps it is because I am not a visual person—is who was left. Yes, in the books we have a mounting list of the casualties of the war between good and evil. Yes, we hear the voices of many of the living after the fact. What struck me was the sweeping view of the still living in the great hall, comforting each other and aiding the wounded. I don’t want to say that I begrudge them for living while many of my favorites died, but it did bring a new aspect of the realization that Lupin is dead. I would liken it to the first Christmas after your grandmother has passed away. Yea, you know that grandma is gone and you know that life is moving on, but seeing it unfold before your very eyes adds such a depth to the experience. The senses have such a power.