Thank you to all of the readers who chose to enter the Harry Potter Adventure of a Lifetime Contest.  There were some outstanding adventures shared, which made it very difficult for me to choose the Grand Prize winner.  This fun and exciting contest was sponsored by Scholastic Books.

As promised, the Grand Prize winning entry is published below.  Congratulations to Mishi from Secret Agent Mama!!!  The thing I really liked about Mishi’s adventure was that it was about self-discovery, courage and personal transformation.  Here is her story entitled My Greatest Adventure:

I was really still just a kid; a kid that needed to become an adult and just cut those apron strings already. I didn’t realize that by telling my new husband to look for a job anywhere, that he would actually listen. He listened to me, though, and searched for a job. Where else would he look first other than New Orleans? It was the place that I fell in love with him, all over again, after our initial love trip.

The day he told me that he had an interview, on the phone, with a guy in New Orleans for a job, is a day that I won’t ever forget. The butterflies in my stomach danced around so much, so quickly, that I felt nauseous. There was no turning back. I couldn’t take a perfectly good job away from him, especially after he’d been looking for one so diligently. I wasn’t going to be that wife.

And so, it happened; he got the job. I was able to transfer with my job at the portrait studio, too. It was too good to be true. It was perfect. Then [we] had to tell my parents, the apron-wearers. The knot in that apron was so tight, and so binding, that it was a chore to get it undone. Such a chore that scissors made of platinum were needed. Somehow I found the right tool, and I used it.

They were so angry, with such a seething anger, but it had to be done. I had to go grow up. It was time. This was it.

The adventure began. We packed up what little belongings we had—which included the world’s heaviest sectional—in a small U-Haul, packed up our new puppy, Sadie, said our sad-drawn-out-goodbyes, and drove off towards the Big Easy.

I don’t believe, for a minute, that it was easy for me. Quite possibly, for the whole two years we lived there, I cried daily. Phone calls were an emotional roller coaster. I’d be fine the whole day, only to [come] home, to answer the phone, and to be thrown into a pit of guilt and overwhelming sadness. I know I was their only daughter, but, damn it, did the guilt have to be so tragic and crushing.

Daily I would realize, though, that I was flourishing. My mind was becoming its own and I was making decisions for myself. Sure, I had Michael, but I was not relying on anyone else. There were no other eyes peering at me. There was no audience. There was only a new realm where I was in control; I could choose to go certain places without any explanation or any trepidation. I held the reigns. This was my time.

This great adventure set the stage. We’d move back to the place of my birth two times, but ultimately we’d move away thrice. This last time, here, is going to stick. Strangely I am more myself in a place that is other than that of my upbringing. Sometimes I think about why that is so, and I cannot seem to formulate the thought completely. I guess the closest way I can describe it is like this: Growing up I was a caterpillar. Slowly I made it through life under the careful eyes of parental caterpillar units. They tried to keep me safe, tried to keep me from falling prey to those cannibalistic ones, tried to keep me comfortable in my caterpillar skin. But, it wasn’t right. The metamorphosis was inevitable. Somehow, someway, I was destined to fly off with my pulchritudinous wings.

Free.
Destined.
Bold.
Venturous.

Mishi’s Grand Prize includes:

• Complete Box Set Books #1 – #7

• Copy of the 10th Anniversary Edition of ‘Sorcerer’s Stone’

• Collectible Harry Potter Gold Pin

Congratulations also to the 4 First Prize Winners who were randomly selected from the Discovering Dad e-mail subscriber list:

1.  Brillig

2.  WeaselMomma

3.  Julian R.

4.  Eric R.

First Prize Winners all receive:

• Copy of the 10th Anniversary Edition of ‘Sorcerer’s Stone’

• Collectible Harry Potter Gold Pin

Thanks again to all those who entered the contest, as well as our sponsor Scholastic Books.

The next contest on Discovering Dad will be centered around the importance of exercising your right to vote.  Stay tuned for more information to come!

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