A Blog For Tara

This is my friend Tara, and today just so happens to be her birthday. I first met Tara in September of 2007. She came to an Access service and I immediately found her compelling. I was a mother of a barely two week old Joey, and she jumped right in and loved him and it warmed my heart. Somewhere along the way, though, Tara became more than a friend to me – she became part of our family.

Tara has seen enough pain in her life to make the average person become hardened, bitter, and cynical. But she is not average. Where others take pain and turn it into an opportunity for excuses and an anger-fueled “life owes me” existence, Tara has taken her pain and allowed it to make her one of the most loving, warm, open, and dynamic individuals I have ever had the privilege of knowing. Her pain has made her even more beautiful, because she carries herself with a grace and empathy that in unparalleled in anyone else I have ever met.

Tara, on your birthday, and always, you are so loved. You bring pure joy to the lives that you touch. I don’t wish, I prayerfully expect great things for you, this year and always.