Tara

Mum (Priya)

Mum · keeper of the chocolate cake in the fridge

my Tara — sixteen years ago on a thursday in june i held you for the first time in a hospital in plainsboro and you opened your eyes and looked, immediately, at the window. you have always been looking at the window. i was, i admit, slightly upset that you wanted to spend your sixteenth four hours away on a boardwalk with your friends instead of at home — i had ordered, against your wishes, a small chocolate cake from the bakery on raritan ave. it is in the fridge. it will be there when you come home. you are in photo 4 of the strip. you look like my mother. happy sixteenth, beta. drive safe. — Mum.

Marina

best friend · swim team · missed the boardwalk for regionals

TARU!!! i could NOT come on the boardwalk trip because of swim regionals (i KNOW. i KNOW) but bayou said i could write something for the wall and so here i am, in a hotel room in trenton at 11pm on a saturday, writing this on my phone. driver's license at MAX VOLUME on the turnpike on the way back, i need it filmed, i need bayou to text me the video. i am so so sad i missed the booth. save me a copy of the strip. love u the most. — Marina xxxx

Coach Patrick

field hockey coach · South Brunswick HS · 8 years on staff

Tara — Coach Patrick here. The girls' field hockey program at South Brunswick wishes you a very happy sixteenth birthday. You have, in two seasons on the JV squad, become one of the best left midfielders this school has had in the eight years I have been coaching here. Spring tryouts for varsity are March 12th. The roster, for what it is worth, is already mostly written. Many happy returns, kid. — Coach P.

Aunt Rita

aunt · Edison NJ · keeper of the deepavali mithai story

My darling Tara — Aunty Rita writing from edison, on a sunday morning, with my second cup of chai. Sixteen years, beta. I remember when you were two and you walked into my kitchen on a deepavali morning and very seriously announced that you would like, please, "one mithai, only one," and your mother said no, and you said, even more seriously, "Mummy, Aunty Rita is the boss in this kitchen." We talk about it still. You are growing up beautifully, my child. Eat properly on the boardwalk. Call your nani in delhi this week. With all my love, your Rita aunty.