I never really pegged myself as the type who would be into the things that my parents would be into… or at least the things that existed for them or that were all the rage during their era: the 60s, the 70s, and the 80s. Between my parents, when it came to this era-specific stuff, my dad was usually the one who would be, as my mom would call it, stuck in a time warp: from the music on his playlist like the Bee-Gees to the shows he watches every night like "The Love Boat."

Although my mom isn't as fixated on this era as my dad is, she can get carried away with it at times. In fact, she can very accurately (and creepily) quote lines from her favorite movies like "Sixteen Candles," favorite shows like "The Honeymooners" (which was actually in the 50s!) and practically any show or movie that involved her all-time favorite actress…

Kristy McNichol.

She was in movies like "Little Darlings" and "Just The Way You Are" and in shows like "Family" and "Empty Nest." My mom grew up watching Kristy and even looked up to her. In fact, she even kept a notebook full of pictures, newspaper clippings, and other memorabilia about Kristy for 40 years that she still has! She would have done anything to actually meet her in person and tell her how much of an impact she had on her as a kid.

Which was why this past summer my mom got two tickets, one for her and for me, to the "Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention" in Maryland in September where Kristy was one of the guests scheduled to appear and sign autographs.

At first, I was conflicted about going, mainly because of the three-hour class I would have been missing on one of those days, but ultimately, I decided to go so I could be by my mom's side the whole ride there with my dad's written directions in hand.

And I'm so glad I did!

Though I knew going in that my mom was going to enjoy it far more than I would, I actually enjoyed myself there way more than I initially expected. We got to buy some memorabilia at the stands and we got to see great seminars for different things: a couple panels about the making of "Rudolph" and the history of its animation studio Rankin & Bass; a panel that had two actors from "Oliver!" answer questions about the movie from exactly 50 years ago; and a panel about the first-ever reunion of Robert Wagner and Stephanie Powers since "Hart to Hart!"

But here's the real kicker: one of the highlights of the trip occurred spontaneously. While my mom, a woman we befriended who was also a Kristy fan, and I were waiting by Kristy's table, we saw Stephanie Powers run by, exclaiming that she had to pee. So, naturally, my mom followed her into the women's bathroom, with me and our new friend right behind her.

We got there just in time: when Stephanie came out to the waiting area, my mom asked her for a picture, and she politely said yes! She even said that this photo was going to be a freebie!

I was about to take the picture, and my mom kept telling me to get closer. At that time, I thought that they wanted me to include their whole bodies within the photo, so I was standing back to fit their full frames. And then, all of a sudden, Stephanie Powers herself came forward, put her hands on my shoulders, and directed me on how to hold the phone, so that I could take the picture of them from the waist up, and I took her advice as well as the picture.

Can you believe it?

I got touched on the shoulders by Stephanie Powers!

Not to mention that I was wearing my go-to rain jacket I've had since middle school, and this moment pretty much added another reason as to just why that jacket is extremely special (and lucky) to me!

In the end, the best part of the trip remains the same: my mom got to meet her childhood idol, a few pictures of Kristy signed (to add to her special Kristy notebook), a few personal copies of Kristy's books signed, and a few pictures taken with her right on her phone! And I actually took one of those pictures! Even though I wasn't in any of the pictures, I was glad to be my mom's photographer.

My mom and I had an awesome time on that trip. It was not only a good chance for her to show me the wonders of her era, the era that she actually lived through, but it definitely brought us closer together than we were before! As if we weren't close enough…