Missing Pages & Unfinished Stories

Facebook Memory from 9/20/22

 I have to share the back story on this Facebook memory…

Book #5 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released in 2003. When Hope & I got to the end of the book…at a crucial turning point in the storyline…the page (801-802) was just GONE. It looked like it had literally been sliced out with a razor, neat and tidy, the tiniest sliver of a page left so that I actually thought it was a manufacturing error.

I remember calling Cheree to have her send me a picture of the page so we could finish the book! 

Fast forward to 2016,  when I re-read the book with Sam….SAME thing happens! 

Come to find out from Hope, TJ tore the page out years ago while they were playing in Aunt Cheree’s basement.  He was only 5 years old at the time…Hope was 8.

She said he grabbed the book from her and ripped a random page out (probably mad at her for something) and if you’ve read the book, you’ll know that it just happened to be one of the most important pages in the book at a major turning point at the end of the story. After re-reading it in 2016, I finally bought a replacement copy at Goodwill so we don’t have to do this again!

As I reflect back on this memory,  I can’t help but think about how it was such a simple, small action for him to do as a child (to rip a book page)…that ended up  having a long-lasting effect for anyone reading that book copy decades later.  And I think of how symbolic it is now for the loss of a life whose story was cut short just when a huge plot twist was about to occur.

I will forever read the original, torn-page version of the book as it is. And I will always remember him when I do, in (amused) annoyance, as I do with so many other things that I remember about him as memories pop up (if you knew him, you’ll 100% understand the annoyance!) 

He had a gift for being annoyingly endearing when you knew him.

Raising TJ taught me many things, but mostly…to *always* be on my toes & ready to adapt to the next calamity...because there would for certain always be another one. One simply does not live a life as freely or as fully as he did without a few mis-steps along the way.

But for now, I’ll just tuck the missing page in the back cover for next time.