Hi, JereMaya. It's Daddy. Today is January 21st, 2022. And for this third episode, I thought it was timely to reflect on one of the happiest moments of my life, which just happened last weekend. We finished reading together. The last book of Harry Potter. And this experience with you both revealed an epiphany that I hadn't discovered the first time I read the book series that I want to deep dive in.

But before I do, I wanted to reassure our listeners that there are no major spoilers in this episode. Even then if you haven't read Harry Potter yet, I hope you give it a chance as it's one of the two books series that has ever made me cry. And if you're curious what that other book is, it's called "The Last Battle" from the Chronicles of Narnia series. Back to Harry Potter. Did you know Jeremy and Maya that I'm fairly new to being a Potter fan? AKA Potter head. The books were sold in America right when I was starting college back in 1998, I was not focused or excited to read children's books as a freshman. Nope. I was too preoccupied with meeting new friends learning more about myself and living a life away from parents and home. We'll definitely have to talk about college life in a future episode.

So, yeah, Harry Potter might have been a huge success from the get-go. But I never seriously thought of giving those books a chance during this season of life. And when the first movie came out, which is back in 2001,

I was studying abroad in Japan at the time. And again, just wasn't interested in all the hype. And I think I did try seeing it back when I came back from Japan. But all my friends already saw the film

and I didn't want to watch it by myself.

Fast forward to February 20th, 2014. That's 16 years after the first Harry Potter book launched. I know this date because I still have my email receipt when I purchased these books. This was two years after you twins were born. And honestly, I have no idea what got me suddenly interested in reading these books.

Those initial years of figuring out how to be a good dad to you, twins, getting enough asleep, advancing my career - those days were quite a blur. My guess is that it was peer pressure from colleagues who swore that Harry Potter was a great reading experience. But what I do remember is that the only time I got to read in peace and without interruption was on my 45 minute bus ride commute from south San Jose to Palo Alto, where I used to work at VMware's headquarters.

And it was in these moments, I was exposed to this new school called Hogwarts with very memorable characters, such as Hermione, Ron Dobby, Sirius, Snape, Luna, Neville, Dumbledore, and of course, Voldemort. Not many books have that effect on me, where I could truly be immersed into a different world and feel connected to the characters.

And by the time I finished the last book, I couldn't help, but cry on this bus ride. And I just didn't care who might have seen me. And that's when I knew that someday, it would mean so much to introduce the Harry Potter books to you two. I really want to witness and experience your reactions to what happens throughout the story.

I started asking friends and family when they introduced their kids to Harry Potter. And most folks recommend at the age of 11, since that's the age of Harry Potter in his first book. Plus every book and especially the films has their scary moments.

And I didn't want to rush or traumatize your minds and have nightmares.

So it wasn't until five years later, I dared to start this journey with you. This is sometime in 2019. When I took that gamble that you two were mature enough to handle Harry Potter at eight years old. Pretty sure. Mommy asked me to wait longer, but I started thinking if you two can love Star Wars films and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you can take the next level in the storytelling with Harry Potter. And when we began reading the series every night together, we started very slowly as there was a big learning curve with JK Rowling's vocabulary and explaining concepts such as sacrifice, bullying, slavery with a certain magical species I shall not name so folks who haven't read Harry Potter can enjoy for the first time.

And of course death. And what specific characters do to avoid it? If I remember correctly during the first two books, it would easily take 30 to 45 minutes to complete one chapter. But I absolutely loved stopping and explaining how the fantasy world works, how our world works, how we saw Harry Potter, his friends, and even his enemies grow through the storyline.

I remember the first four books were such a great ride for you two, but we did take one break for a few months because book four was your first introduction to what Hogwarts students refer to as "snogging." And when your mom found out, that means "kissing," she told me we should stop. For some reason, we are more sensitive about physical intimacy than graphic violence in the stories we introduced to you.

Which is why Star Wars is such a fun place where you both to geek out on as it doesn't cause anxiety for your mommy and me. Anyway, during this break, we read every night together. The Chronicles of Prydain, which is also excellent. And then finally we got back to the Harry Potter's fifth book, The Order of the Phoenix.

And then last weekend we reached the last chapter of the last book, Deathly Hallows.

I paid attention in great detail to you two, to see how you would react to the plot twists. And I'm so glad I did. I counted five ugly cries from both of you throughout that novel. And especially at the ending. And when we read the last sentence of the Harry Potter books together. You both hugged me so tight, crying your eyes out. And I was crying too.

It was one of the happiest moments of my life. You both have such good hearts and you feel for others, even fictional characters. So thank you for making me such a happy daddy.

And while we read the last book together. I observed something in the books I did not catch the first time. And this is only a slight spoiler, but there are various moments in the books when Harry is able to experience the memories of others through a magical device called a Pensieve. And in these moments, Harry is able to see his heroes' perspectives on important life-changing moments that happened in their childhood.

In Harry's case, there are certain role models who have a reputation for being heroic, noble, and courageous. And Harry witnessed through the Pensieve that they made some serious, bad decisions and were ultimately very flawed characters in their younger days. It's shocking to Harry and it's shocking to the readers.

How can these legendary heroes who have done so much in the world have such a dark past? And I won't say who. But there's also one character in particular who did not seem to have any legitimate reason to be so mean, petty and malicious to others. This boy came from a well-to-do family, a proud lineage of great athletes, and seem to come from a healthy home. Yet, despite all that, he seemed keen on doing hurtful things to people he looked down upon. What caught my attention this time was that even with great disappointment, Harry and his friends realized the truth and yet still loved these characters. In fact, they learned from their predecessors' flaws and mistakes and treat others with respect, mercy and love.

And this means a lot to me because the portrayal of this flawed characters childhood, I felt like J K Rowling was writing about my past. Yeah. It's difficult for me to share this with you kiddos, but how I treated others who annoyed me?

Or who I felt deserved. To be treated worse.

It's different from... It's different for what, how I'm raising you. While I haven't done anything that would land me in jail, I'd be greatly ashamed if you looked at my memories through a Pensieve. You would find just like this certain character in Hogwarts that I, too, used to be self-centered, arrogant and really mean to other people - and I enjoyed it when I really shouldn't have. I know this may come as some sort of shock to you, JereMaya. For all your life, you've seen me as a parent who teaches you to be aware in how we treat others today and to be inclusive, hospitable, and welcoming with new and old friends, to be a constant source of light and positivity and encouragement.

I will have to tell you in another podcast someday, why I was not like that during my childhood. But for today, I just wanted to let you know that there's still a sense of great shame that haunts me from time to time.

So what are the three key takeaways from this epiphany?

First great men weren't always great. There's a famous quote by an Australian politician named Bob Brown, who said , "Behind every successful man is a lot of unsuccessful years." I think this is so true because we, as a society, tend to only pay attention or at least see the wins and successes of others. But I have no doubt those who reach admirable milestones had to experience many ups and downs to get there.

The second key takeaway is that certain mistakes can be the primary motivator to be your best. We may not be able to easily move on in life from hurting others, but if we could understand the impact we've had on someone else, empathize and see how wrong this action was - then maybe we can live a life where we can prevent such hurt from happening again, or at the very least help others who share in these experiences.

Without going into spoilers. One particular character in Harry Potter said something so hateful to someone he loved very much and he regretted it instantly because he knew it crippled a special relationship. I have no doubt he had many more opportunities to spew this same hate to people who are categorized like the person he hurt.

But he never did. And he grew from that experience. In fact, it defined him for the rest of his days. He was brave and courageous to the very end.

The third and most important key takeaway is that if Harry Potter and his friends can look past the blemishes of others and see their goodness, I feel like I can do that too. Especially when I look at myself in the mirror. The past will always be the past. But I can learn from these moments and teach you what not to do, how to not make the same mistakes I did - set you on a much better path than the ones I've taken. And if you do make a mistake and it's inevitable because no one is perfect. Just know that you can be forgiven and you can forgive yourself. I will have to unpack the meaning and purpose of forgiveness in a later episode. But know that forgiveness sometimes doesn't come easily. Even when done right. But it will free you and others to be the godly men and women you're meant to be.

Well, that's all I have to say about this epiphany. Thank you twins for that wonderful moment we shared together. And thank you for allowing me to reflect on the power of forgiveness.

I love that we can observe and find wisdom in stories that we fall in love with. And I'm so happy knowing that your childhood and how you treat your peers is very different from what I did at your age.

You look out for each other. You look out for your friends, you lift people up when you and others could easily bring them down. I'm so proud of you both and you give me so much hope and joy. Love you.