Oh Kristy McNichol, where are you? You were such a shining beacon of normalcy in our youth when all we had to look to was someone relatable, complex like us and knew the words in our heads that we could not put into our mouths.

During Family, you showed us it was okay to be the youngest and to relate to the adult world that was going on around us. You were there for us, relating, skateboarding, putting into words the complex youths that we were, but nobody realized. The one that witnessed activity around us yet never had it focus upon us. And yes, we remember Pinballs because in a different way, we felt the same bounce.

We bought your album even though we knew it was silly bubblegum rollerskating music. We bought the satin jacket and wore it to 8th grade and were the coolest in school. We skated to “Go For It”. And when you get the chance, you know you gotta take it, go for it.

Then we saw your movie career skyrocket and plummet but we still went and watched them, because it didn’t really matter because you were in them and that was all we needed to see. You were our hope.

Then you had The Breakdown that we’ve all experienced except yours was public and ours was private. We appreciated your courage in playing that out for all of us. We were there with you, every step of the way.

Then we championed your return to stardom with network television and then you freaked out again and that was okay in our eyes. We understood. We’ve all have reoccurrences of those freakouts and we’ve dealt with them, publicly or privately. We gave you your space.

Now, you’re silent in your public career and you play tennis. That’s fine. I won’t question your motives for not returning to any public eye, but if you ever should just remember that there are people out there that love you and welcome your return.

And please don’t even reference a young Helen Hunt in this clip, her performance during this episode was just as bland and faceless as her career 20 years later.