You Can Be My Wingman Anytime

With all of the talk about Tom Cruise that's been floating around, I thought it would be helpful to tell a story of how I first became acquainted with Mr. Cruise.

As a child of the 1980s, I, like many people, was fascinated with the film Top Gun. I was in the third grade when Top Gun was released, and it instantly became my absolute favorite movie. It transported me to a new world, a world in which flying machines allowed people to do superhuman things. To me, the fighter pilots in Top Gun were both my role models and my best friends. For my eighth birthday, I received a box turtle that I immediately named Willis (after my favorite character on Diff'rent Strokes). Well, after I saw Top Gun, I changed my turtle's name to Goose, to honor the memory of Tom Cruise's lost flying partner.

As for me, I was always Maverick. I admired everything about Tom Cruise's character, and I was determined to be as much like him as I possibly could. When my family was driving around in our car, I would pretend that I was in an F-16 jet trying to defeat the enemy. When we were pulling into our driveway after going out, I would ask my dad if we could buzz the tower. When my dad would say, "No," I would say, "You have to say, 'Negative, ghost rider, the pattern is full.'"

One day I made my own helmet--I took a bicycle helmet, drew some stripes on it, and wrote "MAVERICK" across the front. I would wear it around the house and even in the car, I mean fighter jet. When it was time for my ninth birthday, I told my parents I wanted a Top Gun jacket just like the one Tom Cruise had. My parents asked if I wanted Legend of Zelda instead; I said no, that all I wanted was the jacket. My parents agreed to get it for me, but they made me promise not to wear it all the time.

On June 13, 1987, I got the jacket that I dreamed of. It fit perfectly, and I never wanted to take it off. Despite my parents' wishes, I wore it whenever I could. Not only that, I insisted on being called either "Maverick" or "Tom Cruise". One time, when my parents called me "Daniel" over and over again, I went to my room and refused to come out until they corrected themselves.

After that, my parents had a long talk with me. They said that they thought my Tom Cruise fascination wouldn't ever have lasted this long and they didn't know what to do. I can even remember the word they used: "unnatural". A couple days later they sat me down and told me of a decision they had made. They were sending me to get "help". At first I refused, and I even threatened to run away. My parents stood firm, and so every Monday and Thursday I went to my appointments. I didn't like it at first--I found it just painful, but after a while I got used to it.

Things have been different for me ever since. I hung up my Top Gun jacket for good, but my respect and admiration for Tom Cruise remain. In fact, the courage he showed in dealing with Goose's death provided me with a very important example whenever I had to go to my appointments.

Now, I consider myself a well-adjusted adult, and it's all thanks to the help that my parents got me as well as the solid example provided by Maverick. So thank you, electroshock therapy...and thank YOU, Tom Cruise!