No spoilers here. When my daughter finished HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS a day ahead of me, I asked her how she felt about everything. "Satisfied," she said. I couldn't have said it better. I'm satisfied. Days later, I'm still weepy when talking to friends about favorite parts. This series has played a tremendous roll in our (loyal readers) lives for almost 10 years. My brother has read the entire series aloud to his grandchildren. They're both teenagers now, but they're still reading this last book aloud together. His 16-year-old granddaughter ditched her boyfriend on a Friday night to spend it with her grandfather and little brother at several different Harry Potter parties. They got home with their books at 3:00 a.m., fixed a small meal and sat down together to read. I'm so grateful that I'm part of a readership that got to discover all this for the first time. If these books are still read 100 years from now (and I think they will be), we're still the only ones who got to be surprised (despite all the bitter, evil Dementors who left Azkaban in a wild flurry and tried to spoil the fun by posting spoilers on the Internet).

Going in to The Deathly Hallows, I was nervous for everyone, but I've always trusted Rowling completely as an author. Wherever she wanted to take the story, I was willing to go. Everything for seven books has been building up to the showdown between Harry and Voldemort, no big surprise (or spoiler) if I tell you that. But as they say, "It's not the destination, it's the journey." And Rowling continues the trip with her themes of loyalty and good-versus-evil. Of good friends and friendship strained. Of making the right choices even when it's the hardest thing in the world to do. When giving up and letting someone else do all the work would be so much easier. I guess I'm sad the series is at an end, but I think a closed series like this, one where the author always seemed to know where it was headed, is the best. I'm not sure I need, or want, a return from Rickenbacker Falls for the World of Harry. I'm truly grateful, as a reader, to have been a part of this Harry Potter phenomenon that's sparked so many imaginations and so many discussions with friends, relatives and customers. It has been, and will continue to be, great fun.