INDIANAPOLIS – Cambridge City resident Ashley Leslie saw “Home Alone” for the first time when she was six years old.

At the time, the film had only been out for two years and had not yet become the Christmas classic that many families love today.

Watching Home Alone wasn’t exactly a Christmas tradition for Leslie’s family, but it has become a Thanksgiving tradition since they met at her great-grandmother’s house.

“It just started a year ago because they always start playing it on TV around Thanksgiving,” she said. “’Home Alone’ was the first film I saw. I just wanted to see this movie all the time.”

When it comes to the film’s star, Macaulay Culkin, most people think of Home Alone and Home Alone, but don’t know many of his other projects.

When Leslie saw the Christmas movie for the first time, she became a lifelong fan of the actor. She owned his book, figurines, films he starred in and other collectibles, including a Christmas ornament from McAllister’s Home Security.

“I still have my original Talkboy from my childhood, and I have a Macaulay Culkin doll with a pull string that has phrases from Home Alone written on it,” she said. “Everything I really think about Home Alone or about him, I understand.”

Shortly after watching Home Alone, Leslie’s mother bought My Girl so she could watch it while she was sick. She was distraught when Culkin’s character died in the film.

“I took that literally,” Leslie said. “I ran to the bathroom crying and my mom had to explain that it was just a movie and he was fine.”

Leslie said that after watching “Home Alone” and “My Girl,” she first developed a crush on him, but enjoyed his work because of his “uniqueness and personality,” as well as his openness and honesty his childhood and his owners continue to haunt him.

Now her own children, the youngest of whom is 6, enjoy watching both Home Alone movies starring Culkin. Leslie said she sees some parts of Kevin McCallister in her youngest.

“Not in a booby trap sense, but he also likes to play pranks, especially on his father,” she said. “We actually bought him a prank kit for his birthday.”

Leslie, who also takes advantage of every opportunity to be artistic, saw a TikTok from Uranus Fudge Factory before its Dec. 20 opening, looking for people to design wooden pieces to hang around the store.

Because her husband knew someone who worked there, Leslie picked up a piece that took her a single day to complete. It featured Kevin McCallister’s signature pose and battle plan from the first Home Alone, but also gave it a Uranus Fudge Factory twist, but told customers to eat their fudge.

Despite being a big fan, Leslie never had the chance to meet Culkin until last month.

On December 5, Culkin hosted an event called “A Nostalgic Night with Macaulay Culkin” at the Old National Center in Indianapolis, which featured a special screening of “Home Alone,” followed by a moderated interview and audience Q&A.

“I’ve always wanted to meet him, but he’s really been out of the spotlight for a while,” Leslie said. “When he did that show in Indianapolis and it was posted on Facebook, probably 30 people tagged me in the post that he was going to Indianapolis.”

She and her husband immediately bought tickets, but she said she was quite disappointed that they didn’t get meet-and-greet and photo tickets because they were so expensive: $310 on top of the $75 for the screening and the Question and answer session.

“After a few days, my husband said, ‘We have to do it. This is your dream to meet him. You have to do it,’” she said.

After the film and answering some of Culkin’s questions from audience input, it was Leslie’s turn to meet him.

“I was super nervous,” she said. “The whole time in line I told my husband that I felt like I was going to cry, and the next time I got up my whole body was hot.”

The conversation with Culkin went better than expected, Leslie said, because he made it very easy for her by leading the conversation.

“He’s a super nice guy,” she said. “He asked me if I was just a Home Alone fan and I told him I was a fan of his in general and started telling him about some of the things I had, that he really enjoyed it. “It was like the best day ever.”

For the photo she took with Culkin, Leslie plans to have a work ID card holder made with the photo on it for her to clip on, and she said she would see it again if the opportunity arises.

“100 percent,” she said, “I would definitely do it again.”

This article originally appeared on Richmond Palladium article: Cambridge City resident fulfills dream of meeting Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin