The Fonz and I

Yes, I am a child of the Sixties. Which means I was a teen of the Seventies.

Which also means I grew up watching "Happy Days".

Which therefore means, at the tender age of 14, I fell in love with The Fonz. I watched that show every week, wishing desperately I was the coolest guy on earth's "main squeeze". I dreamt of holding tight onto his leather-clad torso as we peeled away into the sunset on his souped-up motorcycle.

My love of Fonzie didn't end with Happy Days. I laughed at "Night Shift", cried during "An American Christmas Carol" each holiday season, and tried to catch whatever else Henry Winkler happened to be in. To me, he is like a teddy bear; I just wanna hug the incredibly nice guy.

Instead, today HE hugged ME.

Oh and kissed me. Twice.

And during that long-awaited hug, he whispered into my ear, "Mmmmm. You smell good." In that SAME voice... oh my.

I was in heaven. It doesn't matter to me that I had to wait 36 years. It was worth it.

I told him I grew up with him. He responded with "And you grew up wonderfully..." in that smooth way that makes me melt....

The Fonz and I
No this wasn't a dream.

It was the World of Wheels car show, and he was the special guest. When I heard he was coming to town, I KNEW I had to met him. So I went early, and parked myself at his booth to wait the hour before he was scheduled to appear.

I was first in line... and found myself shaking with excitement and nervousness by the time he appeared.

Henry singing my stuff
Henry Winkler
Winker autograph on Happy Days album
Winkler autograph

Thank you Fonzie... you are still the coolest guy on this earth. And tonight you made my dreams come true.

46 People would rather be commenting:

J said...

This is the coolest blog post I have EVER read. Dude, I want to meet Fonz, hahaha.

That is really cool, though.
I wonder if one day I'll be able to meet a celebrity I was in love or still am, haha.

Like, um... Johnny Depp, or Robert Downey Jr... Perhaps? Yes? I want it to happen badly. :D

Jackie said...

Oh eyyy wow! lucky.

feefifoto said...

Ooh, you are SO lucky. I've always read and heard that Henry Winkler is one of the nicest, most decent human beings on earth. Next time you see him give him a hug from me.

Ross said...

Very! Very! Cool! I grew up watching him as well. You must have been beside yourself!!

Heather said...

How cool is that? Yay for you!! :)

Heather said...

That is so awesome!!

Jaffer said...

Heyyyyyy How cool is that - two thumbs up !

I love this Christmas movies I think after Fonz, he's popular for being in that genre.

Ashley said...

Omg how cool is that?!?! I am totally a child from the early 90's and they used to play Happy Days on Nick at Night. I LOVED it and watched it alllll the time! What a cool day to get too meet him, hug him, ANDDDD kiss him! Get it girl! :)

Richard said...

Funny thing is as soon as I saw the title of your post, the Happy Days theme got stuck in my head!

Anonymous said...

I know how exciting it is to finally meet someone you've seen for a long, long time. WAAAY cool! Congrats!

Kathy said...

Ooooo! He told you that you smelled good! I bet you didn't shower for days.

p.s. I'm still jealous that you met Phil Keoghan. Phil!

Jill said...

Very neat Maureen! I feel like I'd be all tongue tied if I met someone I'd admired since childhood, but it seems like you just met someone you admired not too long ago and lived not only to tell the tale, but to repeat...

It's nice that he was so nice.

ReformingGeek said...

Very nice but I have a purple sweater very similar to that one.

I think it looks better on him.

;-)

JapaneseCars said...

personally, i would love to meet chris o'donnell or robert de niro. that would be my dream. :)

David Macaulay said...

I'm just about from that era - we all fell in love with Olivia Newton John in Grease

Dusty Dudley said...

Way cool!

Kisma said...

That is absolutely wonderful! I loved Happy Days!

Sam Liu said...

Wow, this is so amazing - you got a hug from the Fonz!! You must have been utterly elated.

I saw Henry Winkler in a pantomime he did in my home town (Liverpool, UK) last Christmas. The play was Peter Pan and he played Captain Hook - he was absolutely brilliant and so funny :)

Janie B said...

Very exciting for you...and so cool! Gotta love the Fonz!

Tara R. said...

He is still a cutie! Great pic of the two of you.

JoJo said...

Wicked cool Maureen!!! Henry Winkler and I went to the same alma mater, Emerson College in Boston. Years apart of course, so I never met him.

JD at I Do Things said...

WOW!!!!

I think . . . he likes you!

I remember hearing some girls in my junior high gym class talking about "Happy Days" and this hot guy, Fonzie. I watched the show and thought, "THAT'S who they think is cute?" But he grew on me. I wouldn't mind being hugged by him.

And he's aged well too. Like you!

Daisy said...

My Mommeh grew up watching that show, too! "Heeeeyyyyy!"

Marla said...

You got mashed on by The Fonz!!! Heeyyyyyyy!!!!!

Babs-beetle said...

That's amazing! I used to love watching Happy Days. I think the Fonz must have created the word 'Cool' ;)

Bea Boomer said...

Maureen, what a great smile you have on your face in that pic with the "Fonz." Very cool! I was a teen in the seventies, too, so I can relate. I miss shows like that - tv has gotten pretty vulgar these days, and I'm not big on some of the so-called "reality shows."

Lately Lisa said...

Maureen, I have that same Fonz Record....too funny...my daughter now has it in her room...she wanted a record player for Christmas and we dug out all of my old records....forgot I even had that one...big Happy Days fan back in the day!! Very cool that you got to meet him. I have heard that he is a very nice person!

CarrieMarie said...

That is so sweet that you got to meet him!!! I'm glad you had fun. I'm also glad that he is a classy & sweet guy! : )

Peggie said...

How special! Isn't it nice when stars really are nice. He was so cool on Happy Days.

Swubird said...

Maureen:

A great post. I remember the Fonz quite well. We also watched Happy Days.

Happy trails.

Remy Lane said...

OMFG. That's too freaking cool.

Connie - Tails from the Foster Kittens said...

that is really cool! (and what is it with almost all of us using the world cool?? Oh wait, this IS about the Fonz!!)

What a wonderful time you must have had, do you even remember the rest of the day?? :)

A. David said...

How awesome to meet him. I'm a new follower and absolutely love your blog. Thanks for sharing!

Bart said...

... and then he drove into the sunset on his souped-up electric wheelchair.

Does your husband know about this?

Janet said...

ACK!!!! The Fonz! Wow. I would have swooned or passed out -- or is that the same thing?

Mandy said...

Oh wow, that is amazing and he was so nice and down to earth! Speaking of which, I bet your own feet haven't touched the ground again since??

Swubird said...

Hey, I thought I was the coolest guy on earth!!! What gives?

Happy trails.

One Woman said...

Wow! How cool was that? The only celeb I've been close to was some bluegrass singer at a county fair my parents dragged me to when I was twelve. I wasn't impressed. :)

Ed & Jeanne said...

Cool. I liked his character on Happy Days but I felt that they over-commercialized his coolness on the show. Suddenly he went from mega-cool side character to the main character. Still, I also like Night Shift and I like some of the movie projects he's done in more recent years. Life as a House is an excellent movie...

Brenda Grolle said...

Awesome! What great pictures and what a great experience that was for you

I was a big fan of Happy Days and I love An American Christmas Carol. I thought he was excellent in Click with Adam Sandler.

Maureen said...

Aw Jennifer, thank you! Oooh, I would love to meet them as well. You never know, you just may one day!

Jackie: Yes! I am lucky; he is such a sweetie.

He is, Feefifoto. And if we ever get another chance to meet, I shall hug him for you ;)

Ross: I was! I couldn't believe how nervous I was... it is very surreal to see someone in person that you have only seen on TV or in the movies.

Thanks Heather! I really did geek out.

You're right Jaffer. He did and still does quite a lot of acting, directing, producing and charity work as well as authoring children's books. He's definitely not a slouch!

:) Ashley! Yes, I never would have thought, back in the 70's, that I would one day meet him face to face.

Ha Richard! There is only ONE Fonz!

Thanks Sharonheg!

Hee hee Kathy! Yeah, I have no idea what a sputtered out after he said that... I know I blushed. A lot. And Phil? Yeah, he is a cool dude alright. That was a great experience too.

Jill: I have been extremely lucky to meet a bunch of celebrities; my autograph collection is pretty impressive, if I do say so myself!

Ha Reforming Geek! Yeah, he can pull off anything, methinks.

JapaneseCars: I hope you get the chance one day! You never know!

Oooh David! Did you know Henry was asked to play Danny before John Travolta? It's true!

Kael: It was, and he was! I, on the other hand, was not. Well, I TRIED to be...

Kisma: Me too. Especially the first years. It was perfect timing for my age.

Oh Sam! Captain Hook? Yes, I can see that he would be wonderful. How cool!

Janie: Yep. Me luves the Fonz. Still.

Ha Tara! After his manager took the photo, Henry turns to me and says, "Now check the picture. If you don't like it, we can do another." I responded with "Well, I am sure YOU look great, but me?" But then I said it was good. It was sooo tempting to ask for another, but there were literally hundreds of people queueing up behind me. I couldn't take up any more of his time. But I sure wanted to!

Oh that's Jo-Jo, that is too cool!

Aw, thanks JD! Yes, he is still the charmer, alright.

8D Daisy!!! Yep, your mom and I, I think are about the same age... we have alot in common!

Ahahahaha Marla! I did!

Yep, I think he did Babs. Shows what a good actor Henry is. He really comes across as a very shy, introspective person; unlike his famous alter-ego.

Ha, Bea! When I saw the photo, I had to laugh... yes, I was smitten.

Mama Stress: That record and photo need to be framed. Then I have to choose a proper place to hang them!

Carmar76: Yes, he is very sweet; not all celebrities are, that's for sure!

Peggie: He was, and still is!

Swubird: Yeah I think at lot of us watched that show... and yes, you ARE very cool as well! ;)

Hahahaha Remy! It was!

Connie: Rest of the day? There was a rest of the day??? No, can't say I recall anything else happening...

Aw, thank you A. David! Welcome!

Bart: Ah, yes. Hubby knew. He was going to come with me but he had to work late... which is just as well, I could geek out properly all by myself.

Hahahaha Janet! I DID get nervous just before, but I stayed on my feet, thank goodness.

Ha Emm! Well, it will be something I'll never forget, that's for sure!

Ouch One Woman... I have been lucky; in the past few years I have met a few people I never thought I would.

VE: You are right. I LOVED Night Shift too... when you look at IMDb, you'd be surprised just how busy the guy has been.

Maureen said...

Brenda: I told him I love watching an American Christmas Carol during the holidays, and he reminded me that it was shot here in Canada! Oh right! He's a sweetie!

Cupcake Blonde said...

This is so incredible! I love it when our icons are cool (like the Fonz!) in real life. So many times I have been crushed to discover that those I admire are real assholes in real life. So it is nice to know there are some that appreciate their fans, even after 35 years. :)

What a wonderful experience and great momentos. That first picture is awesome and you both look great!

Contented said...

Ohhhhh your so lucky. Henry Winkler is the sweetest man. He has been in pantomime in the Uk as Captain Hook and on the Paul O'Grady Show a few times. Each time he has been wonderful. To actually meet him and get to hug this gentleman must have been so wonderful. You lucky lady.

Nancy said...

ohhh you lucky girl you...last summer I got to meet Shirley down at the beach...she just showed up at this beach club we go to and I got to chat with her. I even got a few photos...and she's a cutie....your photos are just darling...you lucky girl...I should share my photo of Shirley so you can see her...

I also wanted to say thanks for stopping by my blog...have a wonderful day....

Hugs
Nancy T.

Maureen said...

Thanks Vegas Princess! Yes, he was a real sweetie. Makes me love him all the more.

Sapphire: I AM lucky! It was something I shall never forget, that's for sure!

Hi Nancy! Thank you! Yes! You should share your Shirley photo!

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