The similarities between kittens, puppies, and Macaulay Culkin are striking. Though perhaps enjoyable, kittens and puppies are not nearly so pleasurable when grown up.

So it is with Macaulay Culkin.

On a cool and cloudy day this past week I watched Macaulay Culkin on the original Home Alone movie.

Short of Ronnie Howard on The Andy Griffith Show, who was a cuter kid? As we sometimes wonder what happens to all that is cute with kittens and puppies when they become mere cats and dogs, what happened to Macaulay Culkin?

For that matter, what happened to Ronnie Howard? Was there a cuter kid in all the Carolinas? Or, Hollywood. Beaver Cleaver had nothing on Opie, folks.

Macaulay Culkin rose to fame in the first Home Alone movie and did well in Home Alone 2, both smash hits for the child star.

Cute, lovable, irreverent, and innocence, all rolled into a childhood package. Just like Opie. And kittens and puppies.

Later the same week I saw Macaulay Culkin on some forgettable Hollywood entertainment TV show. Is there a more incestuous industry than TV and movies?

I feel a sense of sadness whenever I see Ron Howard (“Ronnie” is cute when you’re a kid, not cute as an adult trying to produce movies) these days.

He’s worse than a kitten or puppy that’s become a mere cat or dog. Gone is the hair and perpetual innocence of youth, though the Mayberry boyhood grin remains.

Strangely, it’s the same with Macaulay Culkin. He has the same effect on me. These days he looks more like an aging Luke Skywalker than former child star in need of only a hug and a smile.

Still, Culkin’s Home Alone grin remains, a perpetual reminder of youth which belies the adult body infesting his presence. Interestingly enough, that childhood grin is appropriately personified by the legendary Milton Berle who only recently passed away.

I believe it not true about kittens and puppies, but could it be that the essence of a child remains in the adult?

Editor’s Note: Before her death, Tera passed along her personal journal. It is filled with hundreds of comments, essays, observations, and perspectives on every subject matter. As time permits, I will edit and publish select journal entries for Tera Talks—Alexis Kayhill