#AlexOLoughlin – A Moment in Time

I have always wondered about the pictures of Alex hugging the little girl at Fangoria in 2008, and last year I came across the source……..

And what a sweet story it is!

Last night Jill mentioned it in a group and it reminded me that I had this in a draft for such a long time.

(Thanks Jill 🙂 )

Alex and an unknown fan at Fangoria

This is some of what I found on “Blogger Party”. 

Unfortunately, it seems that since last year the site closed down and I can not link the original source anymore.

Fangoria’s Weekend of Horror

– Aka: Alex O’Loughlin has won my heart

by spookyyank on April 29, 2008

Well, this may very well go up instead of my initial “Hey, we made it to Los Angeles” post, but who cares! I’ve just had such a wonderful day that I had to write all about it right now.
For those unlucky souls who’ve never heard of it, each year (in two locations generally) Fangoria Magazine puts on it’s ‘Weekend of Horrors’convention for all of us horror fans. I attended my first con at the ripe ol’ age of 18 and had only been able to attend one other since. But, as I was flipping through the local arts paper, I saw the con listed for this weekend and chose my day. It was tough to choose only one out of the three days, but when I saw that not only was George A. Romero attending Sunday, but that it would be a 40th year reunion for the entire cast of ‘Night of the Living Dead’ ~ well, I’m sure you can tell which day I chose!

2008

(The lady then continues to tell about her long day at the event – and then she got to the part about Alex)

As soon as that bit of hoorah died down, as we were actually walking toward the door to leave the auditorium, Anthony Timpone came on the mic and announced that the panel for ‘Moonlight’ would be on shortly. Oh boy. How could we leave when Nella’s newest heartthrob, Mick, was going to be on stage???

This time she whole heartily agreed to sit down and listen. Let me tell ya, this was the most well behaved she’d been all day! And, when they came on stage, I was actually quite glad we stayed. They were the last panel for the convention and I was pretty worn out. So, had Nella not been so insistent to see her Mick, I’d probably have skipped it. Well, the group consisted of Alex O’Loughlin, Sophia Myles and Jason Dohring ~ the three main players on the show. Now, she sat pretty damn still, but I did have to keep her from charging the stage again! And, this time she knew all too well what she was doing ~ she wanted to be near Mick! And, dammit if my kid doesn’t have some great taste! But, to pacify her, I promised that when they were done, she could go up and say hi to him. And, when I could tell they were wrapping up, I walked us up near the stage and let her go the second they ended it.

Now, this is where it gets really cool. She ran up to the stage and just at that moment Alex turned around and saw her. He turned, smiled and said “Well, hello there”. You should have seen her ~ eyes all big and adoring! I quickly explained that she really loves the show and had wanted to say hi. Well, that was a wrap! Hearing this he held out his hand to her and pulled her on stage! She immediately held open her arms to hug him and then leaned in for a kiss! He seemed so genuinely pleased to have one so little so completely in awe of him that he happily hugged and kissed her right back! Of course, I was so shocked by it all that I didn’t have the stupid phone out! SO, he patiently waited so that I could get a picture of them together.

Want a man, what a man, what a man! I should also add that Mr. O’Loughlin had been working on the show til 8:30 that morning ~ this was 6:30pm ~ so the man had had no sleep. But, what really killed me was that he was going to hang out with her LONGER, but she turned and walked away! He was crouched there with this huge grin, saying “What? That’s it? Where you going?”. I mean, out of all the really cool experiences we’d had, after all the really cool people we’d met ~ here he was, so pressed for time, yet pretty much said “fuck it all” and was gonna MAKE time for her! You just can’t get any cooler than that! So, as she was walking away I just shrugged and said “Eh, she’s fickle”. To that he smiled at me and said “She’s really cool is what she is! She is really cool”.

And, I’d be remiss if I didn’t also add how we nearly incited a riot amongst the women in the audience who also wanted a hug from the hunky star! It really was too funny ~ the handlers were trying to get them off stage and to the backstage area for the *paid* photos and hugs, and by holding him up, that held everybody up! It was utter chaos! All the fans from the audience kind of rushed the stage and the actors just went with it. Really, it was kinda cool to see how much they enjoyed the fans and didn’t really care about the business end of it all.

Alex, if you ever read this, know that you now have a life long fan! I really can’t begin to tell you how much the attention you paid my kid means to me! She’s so special, but also tends to be quite lonely. She really does spend so much of her daily life up in her own head and not in the world. So, making her the center of your attention the way that you did not only brought her out, but bolstered her confidence in ways that I just can’t articulate. And, that pretty much makes you a real life super hero in my book!

Well, it’s late and I should wrap this up. All in all, she had her picture taken with Alex O’Loughlin, Joe Pilato, John Gulager (Director of ‘Feast’ ~ who was really pressed for time, but was more than happy to pose for the pic and talk to her) and The Ice Cream Man from ‘Phantasm’, Reggie bannister (who also just gushed over her and was as cool as I remember him being from back in the day!)!!!! Such a cool, cool day that I will be kind of high over for weeks!

Then a few weeks later she continues the story and also replies to some comments:

spookyyank on June 12, 2008
I was all set to post something else when I arrived here today. But, instead, I discovered a PM in my box that contained the photo below. Mucho thanks goes out to Texzee for taking the time to send it! My camera phone being, um, crap ~ I have been unable to add a visual to my post about the Fango Convention and the too cool for words moment my daughter had with the love of her life, Alex O’Loughlin (aka Mick from Moonlight). But, thanks to Texzee, ya’ll can now see for yourselves what a cool and HOT guy he is when up close & personal!

 Oh, and if you look to the left of the shot ~ that’s my hand holding said crappy cell phone taking a picture. So, not only did Texzee get a better shot than I did ~ it’s the exact same shot! Funny, huh?

In the subject box it said Fangoria pictures. I opened the PM and squealed loudly! Just as one of the library employees came walking by! LOL. So, I know how you feel!
Ya send her the link. There more I look at that pic the more I’m kicking myself for not getting a hug myself. Oh well, he does live in LA…..maybe I’ll have another shot!

 

And, what gets me about the whole thing is how HE was the one to engage HER! When he looked down and saw her, he stopped dead and started talking to her. It’s not like he said “Hi“ and then continued walking (like he could have). He stopped, said hi and then seemed genuinely intrigued by her. That’s really the best way I can describe it! I mean damn – how many other people can say they got that kind of reaction from a movie star???? LOL
And, if Nella has anything to say about it, she’ll see her Mick again! And, make no mistake – he IS HERS! LOL

The whole thing really does go so far beyond what I might have expected. Even as we rode home on the bus I was saddened to think that the cool, cool encounter would be lost to the ether by the next day. That she wouldn’t even remember meeting him after a few hours. So, when it came to light that she not only remembered (and still does!) that he’d had such a profound impact on her ~ well, I just don’t have the words!
Thanks for letting him know about it and I hope he does read it. I wrote out this whole long email explaining it all and pledging my undying gratitude, but need to wait until he approves me on MySpace! LOL
I mean, I can’t help but to laugh and wonder how it looks from the outside. Anyone who has never been around a special needs child or an Autistic child may think this is a whole lotta trouble for something small! But, it’s probably the biggest breakthrough we’ve had! But, I’m still gonna try to thank him and let him know how he’s actually changed her life in a way just by being so nice to her. Meeting him and knowing that he LIKED her has made her brave. And, despite how silly the hoopla may seem to an outsider, he deserves all the accolades!

 

Here’s two more that Texzee shared with me! Ok, see how wrong my kid is! Just look at the expression on her face as Alex tries to get another hug! But, the BIG hug is what really gets to me! What a guy!

 

I keep looking at them and watching her look at them. After two months she’s still so into it all and loving that she met him. I’m sure even without the Autism she’d forget about this in the coming years just because she’s so young. But, normally she’d have already forgotten this meeting and moved on. So, it just blows my mind how something so simple has impacted her in so many positive ways! and, ya, I LOVE that pic of the hug!!!!!

 

I actually hadn’t thought about framing them but that’s not a bad idea! She asks all day long to look at them, so that’d make it a bit easier on me! LOL
I gotta say that when I first heard about Moonlight I wasn’t impressed. It looked like a rip-off of the shows that had come before it. BUT, then I watched it! Not only did it go where the others hadn’t, it managed to showcase this other world in a realistic way. It was smart and didn’t treat the audience like we were stupid! I’m really gonna miss it!

 

Jill sent me this from somebody else who also attended the event and who wrote what she recalls about what happened that day:

The little girl heard Moonlight and had a fit. She was in love with Mick like the rest of us… The mother was tired, but happy to see her daughter showing such happy emotions.
They sat in on the Q & A. As it was over the mother took the little girl up to the stage. When the little girl got closer to Alex, she started calling “Mick, Mick, Mick, I love you”. The little girl went running to Alex, he knelt down and hugged her, and told her, “I love you too”.
He had a big smile on his face….

If anybody else were there and have any memories or pictures of the event, please share it with us.

A big thank you to this mother for sharing her lovely story on her blog at that time, 7 years ago. It is one of those feel-good events and heartwarming moments, that can brighten any day.

Also thank you to Texzee who shared these lovely pictures with the mother – I wish there were more!