I actually had another, more personal reason that I won’t get into, for donating this month’s royalties to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. I didn’t know its courageous founder turns fifty today! Just saw an article on Yahoo! that let me in on that.

I’m not sure there were any preteen girls in the eighties who weren’t half in love with Michael J. Fox. Of course, we were all the way in love with Tom Cruise, too. But Fox was the one we’d have wanted to bring home for Mom to meet. Can’t you just imagine him as a teenage boy sitting at the kitchen counter eating cookies and drinking milk, wowing parents with his college plans? He’d probably walk out the door with the keys to your dad’s car and explicit instructions to have fun and not worry about getting you home in time for curfew.

Of course, preteen girls grow up. I’ve moved on, have a husband and family of my own now…and am only a little bit in love with Johnny Depp. But a part of my heart will always belong to Michael J. Fox. Happy birthday, Michael!