CHASING ALYSSA MILANO

I wrote a love letter to Alyssa Milano. The fact that she was the hottest teen actor at the time and millions of teenage boys wanted to meet her didn’t stop me from writing a very passionate and honest love letter to her. I thought perhaps I had a chance. That was only because I was about to actually meet her. Every Friday afternoon my friends and I would visit the set of Who’s The Boss. I’d become friendly with the guards, the page that worked there, even Tony Danza. After a while I didn’t even have to wait in line to get in. My parents would drop me off at 4pm and one of my sisters would pick me up around 10pm after the second taping of the show. It was Alyssa’s birthday and I thought it was the perfect day to give her that letter. I was invited onto the set by a friend after the show where they would sing happy birthday to Alyssa in front of a huge cake with a gazillion candles (really only about 11 or 12).

While some kids had posters of their teen heartthrobs on the wall like Kirk Cameron or Justine Bateman, I had mine right in front of me, smiling. I reached out my hand and said “Happy Birthday Alyssa.” I don’t think she noticed my shaking hands. We all started talking about nonsense. It was me, my friend, Alyssa Milano and the letter tucked away in my pocket. I don’t remember what the heck I was saying. All I could remember is thinking about the perfect time to give her that darn letter. I reached in my pocket, grabbed the letter and just as I was about to pull it out, Alyssa was called away by the director. Suddenly my friend also left to take a picture with another cast member. There I was alone letter in pocket. I decided to leave but I saw Danny Pintauro (Who played Alyssa’s brother on the show), standing alone with a piece of cake in hand. I had an idea. I asked Danny to give the letter to Alyssa and told him to tell her that the letter was from the boy she just met through our mutual friend and that it was very important that she get this letter on her birthday. Danny smiled politely and said “sure” in that prepubescent voice. My friend and I decided to leave.

We stood outside the studio for 45 minutes waiting for my sister to pick us up. Suddenly we see a white sedan pull out of the studio drive-way. In the back seat sat Alyssa Milano. At that moment my sister Vickie pulls up. She is the closest I had to having a brother, tough and beyond tomboy. We hopped in to my dad's orange station wagon. I told Vickie that Alyssa Milano was in the white car that was making a right on Gower Street. She looked back at us and said, “Well then, we should follow that car.” She slammed on the gas and we raced after the white sedan. She knew I liked Alyssa and I guess she thought… well I don’t know what the heck she was thinking to tell you the truth.

We were speeding up the 101 Freeway closing in on the white car. What was I trying to accomplish? This is stalking. What would happen when we caught up to the car? Was Alyssa supposed to step out of the car and run into my arms? Or was she going to throw her phone number into my window and signal me to call her that night? She would likely call the cops instead. We exited Coldwater Canyon and suddenly I felt that we were getting to close. “This is wrong” I said out loud. My sister slowed down and asked me if I wanted to stop or go after her. Even though the experience was like a car-chase scene from an 80’s movie like Weird Science and I was having an exciting time, I felt I had to stop. The truth was that my “chasing” had already taken place in a real way (and without being a 12 year old stalker.) While most admire celebrities from a far, I managed to bring my celebrity crush close, so close that I was able to meet her on her birthday and send her a love letter up close and personal. Well I never knew if the letter actually got to her and I’m sure it was one of a million she received (or maybe 1 in a million). The point is I made a fantasy come true in a real way, my innocent way. What was I actually expecting at age twelve anyway, that a TV actress and I would fall in love and live happily ever after? Come on! In my twenties I bumped into her at a local LA lounge. She walked past me and smiled. I nodded my head and smiled back with a drink in hand. I’m sure she didn’t remember one bit.