Do you know this wizard?

Momentous occasions call for tears. Like seeing your baby roll over for the first time, or witnessing those first shaky step, or sending her off to school (kindergarten or college – you pick). I've cried at each of those events and fully expected the tears. I did not, however, expect tears when a wand was especially selected for Rebecca in Ollivander’s Wand Shop in the middle of Diagon Alley at Universal Studio’s theme park.

Rebecca and I had gone through the tour of the shop where one of the wand specialist selects someone out of the crowd, performs a personalized wand assessment then bestows the special wand on the participant. Never one to be the center of attention, Rebecca was happy she was not selected for the assessment during the tour.

As the group filed out of the wand room, Rebecca was the last one because she kept looking around the room at the thousands of boxes of wands. The Universal employee signaled for us to get a move on, but the wand specialist noticed Rebecca and motioned her over to his desk. He waved off the Universal employee and spent five minutes talking to her. He performed a private wand assessment, selected a wand just for her, and presented it to her. 

Rebecca was absolutely thrilled. And I was absolutely thrilled. She is such a huge Harry Potter fan and when we planned this trip to Harry Potter World she was so excited to select a wand. We had no idea the wand would select her.

Unfortunately, Sean, Michael and Amy didn't see the special show. We’d gotten separated in the line and they ended up in a different room. When we met up again, I tried to explain what happened, but I could barely get the words out. As silly as it seems, I was moved to tears (which I know some of you are saying doesn't take much) but it was such a special time for my kid.

As you can imagine, I've thought about those moments a lot since Sunday. And each time I think of them, I’m reminded how a small gesture can mean so much. That man didn't have to notice Rebecca; he could simply have considered his job done when that show was over. Because it was. But he was aware of his surroundings. He took the time to notice what was happening around him. And his five minute act of kindness will have years of payoff.

When the wand specialist was finished I tried to speak to him, but at that point the Universal guy was really hustling us out so we hurried on and I never got a chance to say thank you. If you know anyone at Universal who could figure out who this man is, please let me know! And if by chance you know who this man is, please contact me!

If only I could apparate back to Ollivander’s and thank him personally. Maybe Rebecca can figure out a spell with her new wand…