September 13, 2011 | 1:46 pm

My Search for Manny Pacquiao Leads Me to Ryan O’Neal?  Score!

Posted by Ilana Angel

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Manny Pacquiao & Ryan O'Neal

I love Manny Pacquiao.  I think he is an amazing human being and it is my new mission to meet him.  I want to shake his hand and tell him I love him.  By shaking his hand of course I mean I want to hug him.  I am quite certain that if this happens, or rather when this happens, I will hug just a little too tight, for just a little too long, and it will border on inappropriate.  That said, I don’t care.  I love you Manny and I want to hug you.

In an attempt to embrace the sport that Manny loves so much, I’ve decided to go to a boxing event this Thursday night.  I’m going because it happens to be in support of a place that I love, Beit T’Shuvah.  I am also going because one of the celebrity bouts will be with Ryan O’Neal. “Where do I begin to tell the story…..” of how much I love Ryan O’Neal?  I could cry when I think about how much I used to dream about meeting him.

Manny inspires me as a human being to do better, and be better.  Ryan inspires me to put on lipstick and fix my hair incase I happen to run into him somewhere.  I used to think we would get married and Andy Williams would sing the theme song from Love Story as we danced.  Even now, all these years later, I listen to that song after a bad date, close my eyes, and take a spin around my living room, tightly wrapped in Ryan’s arms.

I think Ryan fighting at the event I am attending on Thursday is a sign from God to not give up on my quest to meet Manny.  It’s as if I’m being nudged to dream big because anything and everything is possible.  It will take all my strength not to jump in the ring and smack whoever punches my beloved Ryan, but I will simply watch, with perfect lipstick and killer hair, hoping that after his fight I will catch his eye, and get a smile.

If you are going to be in Los Angeles this Thursday, September 15th, love boxing, have a crush on Ryan O’Neil, want to support an amazing charity, and believe that dreams come true, come join me at the Beit T’Shuvah Knock Out Addition event at the Peterson Automotive Museum.  If you read my blogs, then come say hi.  I will be the woman in the corner, with great hair and perfectly lined lips, crying because Ryan O’Neal smiled at her.

There are still a few tickets left so if you’re interested, call Barbara Friedman at 310-204-5200, or email her at bfriedman@beittshuvah.org.  It will be a fun night, for a great cause.  I know I will meet and hug Manny one day.  I also know I will get a smile from Ryan on Thursday night.  By smile of course I mean it will be love at first sight.  If addiction can be conquered, then this can happen too.  All I need to do is keep the faith.