A Love Letter To Tara

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, we asked Patch readers to write a love letter to that special someone and let us deliver it. This is Joshua Joseph’s love story about his wife, Tara:

“This is a quick story summarizing how two young kids fell in love, have remained in love, and are now on the path of passing their knowledge down to their next generation – their two amazing daughters.

Josh and Tara met during the seventh grade, but definitely did not crossover in the same close-knit groups of friends. Tara was quiet, trying to find her way in another school and quickly developed a nice, small group of friends that she became close with. Josh already had his roots planted and was running around with a group of solid friends, always looking for a lot of fun and a little bit of trouble. As seventh grade moved along, their social circles became a little closer and by the end of the school year, Josh had certainly developed interest in getting to know Tara better.

At the start of eighth grade, Josh and Tara’s friendship had become closer. Spending more and more time with one another ultimately found them ‘dating’ for a period of time (back then of course a relationship of three or four weeks was a monumental accomplishment). Tara had begun to come out of her shell in her new school and she was becoming prettier each day (with the obvious attention being given to her by more and more of the guys in school).

The school year progressed, and at eighth grade graduation, Tara showed up in her graduation dress, makeup and hair all done. The heads of every guy turned and looked in amazement at the big transformation of Tara Berlin. From that point on Josh had one goal: Tara was going to be his girlfriend.

The summer was great, they spent a lot of time together, going for lunches, goofing around with friends and having an overall nice time for a couple months together. Then, it all came crashing down – Tara’s dad (and Josh’s current father-in-law), came home to them kissing. Josh ran from the house like a scared teenage boy, hopped on his bike and never looked back -- at least not until the beginning of sophomore year.
Freshman year at Stevenson High School was uneventful for Josh and Tara together. They each found sets of friends, had a boyfriend and girlfriend or two, while making their way through the year only to have the best yet to come.

Then sophomore year kicked off and they showed up at a party together -- one Josh and Tara will never forget. Of course, parents were not home at the time and when Tara walked in – Josh locked his eyes on her and knew from that very moment that he was going to not only date her, but he was going to marry her. Even at the age of 14, Josh knew that she was the one that would never get away.

From that moment on, there was a hard court press that Josh put in motion in an effort to gain Tara’s attention. Tara played it cool, moving through things slowly. She had clearly found her groove with a set of friends and many boys interested in dating her. Josh and Tara’s relationship quickly evolved throughout sophomore year to become best friends, confidantes and -- after many months – the greatest couple Stevenson High School has ever seen.

Junior and senior years came and went, and their relationship was as strong as can be. Then college decisions happened – Josh decided to attend the University of Illinois and Tara decided to attend Illinois State University, but they chose to stay a couple and do their best to make it work. And guess what? With a lot of effort, trust and determination at young ages, they made it work and have never looked back.

College years had their challenges, but Josh and Tara made things work, staying together and never breaking their foundation. At the ripe age of 21, Josh and Tara moved to the city to begin their lives together as adults, both working full-time and trying to figure out this whole ‘adult’ life thing. Tara wanted nothing more than to get married and have a child – and walked down the aisle on September 27, 1997 to marry Josh.

By May of 1999, Josh and Tara welcomed their first daughter to the world, and by August of 2002, they welcomed their second daughter. Josh and Tara, at 27 years old, were now the absurdly proud parents of the two most special beings this planet has ever seen.

From the moment Josh and Tara’s first daughter was born, maturity and focus had become the forefront of their being. There was nothing that was going to get in the way of doing what they needed to do – be the best parents and spouses to one another they could.

This focus has remained over the years. Our daughters are now 18 and 15 years old. We are 43, just having passed our twentieth wedding anniversary this past September. We have made it a point to show our girls what it means to be a couple truly in love, to hold one another, to lift one another when the other is down, and no matter what, respect one another and hug and kiss each day.

I look at Tara and am continuously blown away at her physical beauty, her intelligence and her ability to teach our girls what it means to be strong, independent and beautiful women – inside and out. Tara looks at me and falls in love over and over again for the husband and father that I am to her and our daughters.
Our story has not come without challenges along the way, but one thing is for sure – without Josh there is no Tara and without Tara there is no Josh – true soulmates that were fortunate to find one another in the seventh grade.

We have created an environment for our girls to see firsthand what true love is all about – respect, loyalty, passion, support, understanding and, most importantly, friendship. Don’t ever lose the friendship that got you there in the first place.

When my Tara walks in a room, my eyes immediately dart her way, in total awe of how gorgeous she is and how proud I am to have her as my partner in the journey of life – right by my side, supporting me and pushing me to limits that no one else ever has or ever will.”

--Joshua Joseph

See all Patch love letters here.

For next month's Love In A Small Town feature, we want to know: What place in town will always be a reminder of love for you? Whether it's the park where you had your first kiss or the restaurant where he proposed, email your story to locallove@patch.com for the chance to be featured. Get more details here.