#1 FAN of January and the YEAR OF 1998!!!! Charisma!!!
Web page - Charisma's Tara page
Email address - [email protected]
Question - How long have you been a Tara fan
Answer - More than 2
Question - Why are you the #1 FAN
Answer - I'm an ice skater. It's a huge part of my life. A few year ago, that wasn't the case. I was very close to giving it up for good. Then I happened to see 1996 Nationals on TV and saw Tara skate. Through watching her career, I became interested in skating, and therefor I began to care more about mine. Right now I can't imagine my life without skating, and I owe it to Tara. Watching your favorite skater win an Olympic gold medal is great no matter who it is, but when it's a skater who you've followed for years, it's even better. It was truly magical to see her win and to see all the rewards she's gotten for all her work. I feel that she deserves all of it. It's not as though she didn't work for her rewards. Hearing how hard Tara worked and what she went through really inspires me. If I'm having a bad day, I just tell myself that Tara didn't quit, so I'm not gonna. And it usually pulls me out of my "slump" and gets me going again. Then, of course, there's her selflessness and carefree personality. She's always doing something for charity, which is really great. And she's a "real person," ya know?? Not to many skaters would have screamed like Tara did after they won the Olympics. But Tara didn't care. She did it anyway, because that's how she was feeling. She doesn't hold back or put on a show. When you see her on TV, you see Tara for who she really is. I started a webpage for her just after she won 1997 Worlds. I should have started sooner, but I didn't even have internet access before then. Over the last few years I have done what I can to make it a source of information for all of Tara's fans. :-) It gets over 100 visitors a day and has a global reputation, but that's not what makes me proud. For Tara's 16th birthday, I wrapped her present in paper that I'd printed out with my webpage on. I also gave her the URL. A few weeks later, I had receieved a beautiful pair of size 3 custom Harlick skates with Tara's signature on them, an autographed picture, and a letter. The letter told me how much she loved my webpage and appreciated my support. She also told me how reading the things I'd written about her brought her joy and everything. It was the greatest letter I'd ever received. You see, what made everything worth it was the fact that Tara had actually visited and genuinly appreciated all the work I put into it. A! nd that she knows what an influence she's been in my own life. I've also received an autographed program from Nagano from Tara, and I've been fortunate enough to meet her backstage at COI and get a few more autographs. ;-) All these experiences have been so incredibly great. It also shows that no matter who you are, if you truly support some one, anything's possible. She's been so incredibly generous to me over the past year. It shows what a truly unselfish person Tara is. After all, it would be very easy for her to simply ignore me or something, but she didn't. She went out of her way to show me that she appreciated my support. And THAT is a characteristic of a true champion.
