What 'Harry Potter' and my glasses have in common

I imagine that you have heard about the 'Harry Potter' series at this point in your life.  If you have not, you have seriously, truly lived under a rock, or you are still a toddler and are not that advanced in reading yet.  Regardless, you should have heard about 'Harry Potter' by now.  It first was published 15 years ago  That's right! 15 years ago! (Well, the U.S., that is.)  Makes you feel old, doesn't it?!  Well, it makes me feel old, anyways.  I digress.  Although, not really because what 'Harry Potter' and my glasses have in common did indeed start 15 years ago....

I was in the 4th grade and had been having trouble seeing the board in class.  But I always read when I was supposed to be doing math or science or anything else in class.  I also read when I finished my work early.  (I've always been a nerd.)  My teacher was Mrs. B and to this day is still my most favourite teacher ever.  I do have a few other favourites, but she changed my life forever.  She actually changed my life for the better.  She was the one who realized that I needed glasses and told my parents to get me checked.  I needed them badly.  This is back in 1998.  That means I've had glasses for 15 years as well.  Starting to get the correlation a bit?  Well, there's more to it. 

Not too long after I got my glasses, Mrs. B realized that I was being bullied for having them.  It was the 90s, and well, kids have always been cruel.  So, she introduced me to book.  A book about a little boy, who was not too much older than I was, who had glasses and wait for it.... was bullied.  Although, his bully was a Dark Lord and this little boy got to use magic.  He was also know around the world.  Well, at least the wizarding world.  If you haven't quite caught on yet, that little boy was Harry Potter.

Not only did my life change in 1998, it changed in a way that still affects me today, almost 15 years later.  But the way that my life changed, has ultimately been for the better.  It has shaped who I am and how I act.  I am seem crazy for being obsessed with Harry Potter, even now, 2 years after the last film was released, but the truth is, there are so many people out there like me.  But also, I really don't care if people think I'm crazy.  I got to not only grow up with the book Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Neville, Luna, Ginny, Snape and McGonagall and every other character in the series, I was even luckier, I got to grow up with the actors of those characters.  Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Tom Felton, Matthew Lewis, Evanna Lynch, Bonnie Wright, Alan Rickman and Maggie Smith.  I love all of them and don't even mind seeing them in other productions.  In fact, it has helped me to watch other films and plays I would not have normally watched.

So, that's it.  That is what 'Harry Potter' and my glasses have in common.  1998 and Mrs. B.  Two simple things.  But at the same time, it is so much more than that.  More than I can put into words, so you will just have to take me word for it.  Even though it may not have seemed like it at the time, I have come to realize that getting glasses and then being swallowed into the 'Harry Potter' fandom, those two events in my life were probably the best things to ever happen to me.

Has anything changed your life that you will never forget?  Do you have something in your life with an odd connection like mine?