Pinky Meets Keith Coogan! Fangirls In Love! Getting Engaged! Falling Head Over Heels! This Is Their Book Of Love! Autographs! And More!

I told Pinky, I said… What I really need are more photos of you and Keith Coogan. Because I haven’t posted a photo of Pinky and Keith since Friday and it being Saturday that’s just not good. lol…

M-


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Hello, my lovelies. Pinky Lovejoy here basking in the soft, warm, pink glow of new love….and my recent engagement to Keith Coogan (which was announced here first, thankyouverymuch). I’m so ridiculously happy right now, but many of you might not know that Keith and I met, well, in February. Of this year. At an autograph show. Yeah. See, kids, keep up with your hobbies and following your heart and maybe you, too, can end up with the man of your dreams!

Actually, as a bit of backstory, I should reveal my deepest darkest secret to you: I wasn’t really a Keith Coogan fan before now. I mean, I’m sure I would’ve been (if I wasn’t so hung up on Ricky Schroder), but I honestly don’t remember seeing any of his movies. I mean, I think I saw Adventures in Babysitting, but I barely remember it. I only recently watched Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, but that was only to get Mikey off my back.

(Editor’s Note: And yes “Mikey” did give her plenty of crap about it and still does as a matter of fact! M-)

So, honestly, I had no point of reference in regards to Keith Coogan other than knowing he was some ‘80s star that all my collector friends were dying over. Considering I write a weekly column about stars from the ‘70s and ‘80s this is a tad ironic, but whatever.

 
Last year Mikey called me and said, “It’s a Keith Coogan emergency!” because Keith’s name appeared on a list for a show. My reply? “Mikey, just so you know, there will never, ever, be a Keith Coogan emergency in my book. I don’t know who he is, I’m not going.” And, I didn’t. Mikey did, but sadly missed seeing Keith arrive. Flash forward to early this year and Keith’s name appeared on what was actually his very first autograph show (which is probably why everyone was so excited). I still didn’t know what the big deal was – I was mainly going to the show so my friend could meet the “Growing Pains” cast, but I figured while I was there I’d stop and say hi to Keith, maybe try to interview him.

Now, I do remember seeing his picture earlier that day on Twitter and thinking he was cute. For some odd reason the thought crossed my mind, “I wonder if he’s single? What if we hit it off? That would be hysterical.” But, of course, that sounded insane, so I dismissed it immediately. Then the craziest thing happened – when I met him, it was instant chemistry. There was more of a spark between us than I’d ever felt with anyone on earth.

The closest thing I could say was that it was love at first sight, but that doesn’t really happen, right? I mean, that sounded absurd. Yet, I couldn’t deny it – our eyes met and it was like we both just “knew.” Honestly, it was as if we went, “Oh, THERE you are. I’ve been looking for you….” After about thirty seconds of being within inches of my face, he said, “Are we going to make out right now?” My reply? “Maybe…” And then he kissed me. Right there. At the show. Right when we first met.

My friend was like, “What is going on over there?!” She was stunned. But, she couldn’t deny the chemistry either. No one could. We even have a video we filmed that day for the site and I think you could even see the sparks then. It was undeniable.
 

I ended up having to take my friend home, but then met up with Liz. I told her that Keith Coogan and I were in love and she kind of laughed. I was like, “No, you don’t understand, we’re in love.” I mean, sure, I was half joking, but I think there was a part of me that knew this was it (and, yes, I’m fully aware that I sound like a crazy person). She ended up going back to the show with me and got to see us flirt firsthand. At the end of the show, Keith was playing with his phone, and I said, “So, are you going to put my phone number in there?” (obviously I’m super subtle). His reply? “I’m kind of hard to get. Let’s just see how it goes on Twitter.” Um, WHAT?!?! Do you hear that? It was the sound of tires braking hard in the road. I was stunned. Speechless. And still on a high from meeting the love of my life. So, we parted ways and immediately he put on my FB wall that it was nice to meet me and made some mention of my eyes. What now? Talk about mixed signals!
 

For the next two months, I guess you could say we had a cyber flirtationship (sure, it’s a word, right?). We would communicate via Twitter and Facebook, but never on the phone, and, sadly, never face to face. But then the amazing thing happened: He booked another autograph show in April. Hooray! I’d get to see him again! I couldn’t wait. I was literally counting down the days. I mean, I was still dating other people, but I couldn’t get him off my mind. That electricity between us was magic; I had to see what would happen next. I tried to Google everything about him to learn more, but couldn’t come up with nearly enough. Mainly I just read old interviews and watched clips of his movies. And then I decided to do what I always do with those I care about – I made him a care package. And not just any care package, mind you, I mean the “Full Pinky” care package – complete with a scarf, a hat, a mixed CD (the equivalent of a mixed tape), chocolate kisses, picture frames with our pictures, the whole nine yards. All my friends said I was going overboard (I tend to do that) and I should knock it off, but I couldn’t stop myself. I was going to be 100% myself with him and if he didn’t like it or if it scared him, tough. That was me. Take it or leave it.
 

The day of the show arrived and to say it went well was an understatement. When I walked up to his booth, he said, “My Pinky!” and ran out to hug me. After I showered him with gifts, we essentially went outside and made out like teenagers.

For two days. I mean, sure, he still had his booth, but I ended up being his “booth b*tch” and we were making out every chance we got. My face hurt from kissing so much! That night he took me and Sammy to dinner at Swinger’s

and the next night after the show he took me to Hollywood Blvd. to “introduce me” to his grandfather, Jackie Coogan. I was so touched. I cried when we parted that night because I knew I was going to miss him so much. I also wanted to tell him I loved him, but it had to be way too soon, right? Right?
 

The next weekend Keith had an autograph show in New Jersey and I just felt like I needed to go. I wanted to be with him and I wanted to see what could happen. I flew to New Jersey on Friday (amidst every plane calamity on earth) and to say we had an incredible weekend together would be an understatement. It was perfect. Everything is so comfortable and easy with us – it feels like we’ve been together twenty years already.

I’ve always heard those clichés about “when you meet the one you’ll know” and “it won’t even feel like work” but I always thought those were bullsh*t. I can assure you, they are totally true. I was smitten within five minutes of meeting Keith. By the end of the weekend, after this whirlwind trip to New York City for dinner (where we took this amazing picture…that was basically a fluke “selfie,” but turned out to be my favorite picture ever),

Keith proposed to me. I didn’t even need to take a second to think about it because I knew this was the person I wanted to spend my life with. I’ve never doubted it for a second and every day I fall more and more in love with him (I know, I know, I’m sorry. I’m probably making you all gag. I can’t help it!).

One month later and we’re happier than ever, living together, planning our wedding, and taking on the world headfirst. Together. I cannot wait to marry him.

I cannot wait to be his wife. I never knew it could be like this and I’m so happy to have found him. If someone had told me years ago that my silly (yes, I know it’s not really silly, but sometimes it feels like that) little picture hobby would lead me to the man I was going to spend my life with, I would’ve laughed in their face.

Keith is a part of me, a part of my life, and I’m so happy to have him as an honorary member of the “Mike the Fanboy Family.” I love seeing him interact with my friends and see our little world. He’s fascinated by it (I just hope they don’t all try to “graph” at our wedding).

(Editor’s Note: I have no shame in bringing my Adventures In Babysitting counter standee to your wedding! M-)

At the same time, I love accompanying him to shows and getting to be on the other side of the autograph table – it’s so much fun! I love meeting his fans and hearing how his movies touched their lives in some way. He makes people smile and we know he makes me smile (oh, man, that was too cheesy even for me).
 

Thank you for allowing me to “tell our tale” and share our story. It all happened so fast it made my head spin, but in the best possible way. For additional pink fodder, please visit www.pinkylovejoy.com or follow me on Twitter @pinkylovejoy. As always, have a pink day!