Happy Birthday my darling Tara

On this special Christmas Eve, I wish you,TARA, MY DARLING DAUGHTER another HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Aishiteru! XXOO MOM![LaLa]

A little blurb about Tara

My little Jrocker all grown up! Tara's father was a "Rock Star" in his own right, she grew up in clubs, venues, backstages, and tour buses, traveling America, she had a very colorful upbringing. Tara met many famous musicians. My favorite memory is during Def Leppards, Hysteria Tour in the U.S., Rick Allen the drummer,stayed at our house, he was rocking Tara to sleep wrapped in his red leather jacket singing her lullaby's when she was around two years old, until she fell asleep. It was the sweetest moment. She got to see him again after his tragic accident a few years later, Tara rememberd him and said to him, come here my one armed bandit and give me a hug. That is how Rick got his nickname. So many memories, I won't bore you with them all, that one was just very special.

 

Tara stayed in school, straight A's from Kindergarten all the way through six years of college.Tara's goal since two years old was to learn Japanese and to live in Japan. She learned Japanese by the age of ten, self taught,she would only listen to Japanese music and would criticize anyone who would not give Japanese music a listen. She is a walking encyclopedia of Japanese music.Tara only ate rice, ramen and anything Japanese with chopsticks of course, from about eleven years old , to this day. Any musician who had been to Japan she would question for hours about the experience.We as parents who were into the Japanese Culture,[my father is Korean and Japanese] not obsessively as Tara, were thinking, who is this kid? She is so out there!! The money we spent on Anime, Cosplay, Games and every Jrock/Jpop CD/DVD , singing lessons, dance lessons, acting lessons, is astronomical. We wanted her to live her dream and would do anything to help her get there, because we knew this was not a phase some kids go through, she was determined her entire life..
Tara did make all  her wildest dreams come true ,and moved to Japan all by herself, got a job, apartment and spread her wings and flew away, not many can say that. Of course three months later,I was right behind her LOL

 

 

After much begging, I took Tara to see Dir en Grey when she was only twelve years old, her favorite band, when the doors opened she ran straight for the rail in front of Die, and left me in the dust. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen, she is very conservative, shy, tiny and reserved. [coming from the lifestyle/upbringing  she had, was amazing in itself]  to see her screaming and headbanging put me as a Mother into shock, where did all that come from??? We saw Diru again when Tara was fifteen and seventeen. Two years ago on her birthday in Japan at Namba Hatch in Osaka on Christmas Eve we saw  Dir en Grey again .By the way,Tara is a huge L'Arc`en~Ciel/hyde fan also..

 

Tara lived in Tokushima, Japan on the tiny island of Shikoku and was an English teacher. She survived the Great Earthquake and Tsunami, who stood with Japan and stayed, I could not be prouder. She tutored an eleven year old Japanese Pop Star while she was there. Tara herself, is also a great singer, she entered many talent competitions in America and Japan and won, she has an amazing voice, she has been singing since birth.  She is all grown up now and getting married in March and has moved from Japan back to the States for that reason. She misses Japan terribly. She volunteers at the Japan Society in Washington and teaches Japanese to Elementary school children. She will be honeymooning in Japan for Sakura, I also will be returning to Japan and heading back to Osaka.my second home at that time. I am very proud of her accomplishments and her strength. Her father and I still look at each other in amazement and still ask ourselves, "Are you sure she is ours?"