A marriage lesson

I HAD BASED THE PERFECT UNION ON 'THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW'

- BY JILLIAN PRETZEL

(LIAM EISENBERG For The Times)

I'D NEVER BEEN so excited. Standing in line, my legs were bouncing so fast I was basically hopping. I’m not usually wowed by celebrities, but when I learned my idol, Dick Van Dyke, was taking photos with fans, I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

As I reached the front, I was trying to decide what to say to the legendary actor. “I love your work,” seemed too pedestrian. “I love you!” was creepy. As the options swirled in my head, it occurred to me that this was how kids feel waiting to meet Santa Claus. And maybe Van Dyke is a little like Santa: white hair, rosy cheeks, jolly and wholesome. I've always thought there was something about him that seemed a little bit magic.

I'm almost seven decades younger than Van Dyke, who recently turned 100, but I've always adored him. Growing up in Los Angeles, I loved watching “Mary Poppins” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” but my favorite was “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”

I loved watching Van Dyke's character, Rob Petrie, manage high jinks at work and home. He adored his wife, Laura (played by Mary Tyler Moore), and brought that goofy, fun, don’t take yourself so seriously charm to almost every scene.

“Hi-lo,” I said when I got to the front of the line, caught between “Hi” and “Hello.”

“How do you do?” I think he said, but I couldn't be sure. In my excitement, my senses were failing me.

“Smile!” A man behind the camera instructed. I posed, then shuffled out of the booth, trying not to say another embarrassing word. I collected my 8-by-10-inch picture and held it like a treasure. At home, I proudly displayed it in my living room.

Years later, I was married with a toddler when I came across the framed picture in a box. Life had been so busy, I couldn't remember the last time I sat down and watched my favorite actor. I turned on “Mary Poppins” for my daughter — and for me. Of course, she loved it.