The Tanners in Richmond

The first notes we got received was from a lady named Debbie in Dayton, Texas.  We were able to trace the balloon back to the Tanners, and for those of you unfamiliar with Texas geography, that is over 60 miles from where V&A live!  Below is her note and pics of the Tanners launching.

Hello, my name is Debbie and I live in Dayton, Texas and I found a message on Monday, June 20,2011, 7:30 p.m.  The balloon and message was in my flower bed and it said Happy 29th Birthday Tara.  It really touched my heart.

Jay and the boys

Jayden

The Boys with Deedee

Allan

Jayden with Gmom and Pawpaw

L's first launch

Jayden in front of the pool

Whitney in CA

One of Tara's fellow cheerleaders sent us this note from California:

Dear Tanner Family,

Tara and I were rookie Atlanta Falcons Cheerleaders together in 2001, and she always brought such sunshine and energy into every practice, promotion, and performance we had.  I've since moved to California, so releasing a balloon in her honor on the other side of the country would be my pleasure.  Thank you so much for this tradition.  I can't imagine how wonderful finding one of these notes must be -- and how comforting it is to know that Tara has touched them.

Attached are pictures of where I released a Happy Birthday balloon for Tara in Manhattan Beach, California.

Lots of love,

Whitney

Keightley and company in Alabama

A note from these adorable children's mom Keightley:

Libby, Annie and Charlie launching our balloons in honor of sweet Tara's birthday.  They loved hearing stories about their Mom's beautiful and funny "ballerina friend"!  Praying the day was filled with precious memories!

Debbie in Roswell

Megan in NY

The Hayes Family in OK

Some pics from the Hayes family in Tulsa. Next year they will have another little boy in their pictures!

Chris in ATL

Chris Harney let this balloon go from his condo in Buckhead. Pretty view of the ATL skyline.

The Normans in Round Rock, TX

Below are pictures from Liz Norman and her granddaughter Eppe, as well as her son Dax Norman with Eppe (his daughter).  

Happy Birthday Tara!

With much love we remember...

Late discovery from 2010's launch

Marianne from McDonough, GA sent us a note in late May that she found a weathered balloon and tag in her yard:

Hi! I was in my backyard this afternoon and found your note about Tara. I live in McDonough, Georgia out toward Ola. Thank you for sending up the balloons and I am honored to have found one. Yes, I am touched by an Angel. Marianne How cool that it lasted outside (hidden) for nearly a year!  Just a few more days until the next round of balloons go out....

Message from Vicki and Allan

This Sunday, Father's Day - June 19th, would have been Tara's 29th birthday (Tara was born on Father's Day).   In commemoration we are organizing what has become our annual remembrance of Tara's birthday.  If you would like to participate, all you need to do is get a purple helium balloon, print and cut out the image below and tie it to the end of the balloon string.  You may want to laminate or put the note in a small plastic baggie and then release it in honor of her day wherever you are.

You may also want to put a message on the back of the note indicating where you released the balloon and perhaps your name or initial.  It is always interesting to see who sent the balloon and from where – you’d be surprised how much it actually means to the people who find the launched balloons. 

Tara's friend Megan organized a blog that we’ve used to collect photos of the balloon launch for the past years.  We are hoping that you will continue to send us your balloon launch pictures so that we can post them onto her website. If you have pictures you can forward from past years we would be very excited to receive them as well.  We also love to hear the stories of your balloon launches that we can post or you may leave messages on the blog if you would like.

The address for the blog is  http://angeltara.blogspot.com

It will soon be 7 years without Tara, and we miss her every single day.  Our family continues to appreciate  the kindness, care, support and friendship we have  continued to receive  through the years.  We are especially grateful for your remembering Tara on her birthday.

Thank you so much!

The Tanner Family

Tara's Grandma

This is Vicki's mom on our balloon launch 2010.  Only a few more days until we honor Tara's 29th birthday with another launch. Stay tuned for more details.