Dear Shirley,
I just want to express my sympathy to you about Tara and let you know that I am thinking about you and your family. Although she and I haven’t talked much over the years, I thought about her quite often and would sometimes check her social media pages to see how her life has been going. I think the last time we talked she was still in the army and she seemed to be doing well. And of course, since her birthday is just three days before mine I’d often think about her around that time.
I thought it might be a nice idea for me to write down some of my memories of Tara for her children. Perhaps when they are a little older they can read them and enjoy them. She will always have a special place in my heart as being my first true best friend so I would love to share with them the little part of Tara that I knew.
Jakob and Olivia,
As a child, your mom was the most beautiful girl in our neighborhood; all the boys wanted to be her boyfriend, and all of the girls wanted to be her best friend. I was lucky enough that she chose me to be her best friend for a few short years.
We didn’t live in the best neighborhood, but our families often relied on each other to get by. I remember on one occasion my mother taking Tara and I school shopping and buying us tons of new clothes. We even had a couple of matching outfits and would dress like twins! On another occasion, I remember your grandmother Shirley knocking on our door and handing my mother some money—money that I could tell we desperately needed at the time since my mother proceeded to start crying with happiness. These little ways that our families cared for each other will never be lost on me.
I absolutely idolized Tara. To me, she was a real life princess or Barbie doll, with her long blonde hair, bright eyes, and absolutely perfect cheek dimples that would show themselves when she smiled. Even back then,