The Silliest Story Ever Told

When? October 2001/May 2002

Where? On Backstagejbj.com!!

Yes, it's rather comical. Especially considering that Tara dreamed it all up the summer before it all happened. She was on the subway, listening to Bon Jovi on her discman, and thinking about the Yankee games she was going to. She thought to herself "Wouldn't it be nice to meet a guy who loved the Yankees, and would at least tolerate Bon Jovi enough to go to their concerts with me?" Seriously!

Well, as they say, be careful what you wish for!! ;-)

It was October 2001, and the Yankees were in the playoffs. Tara had been to a couple playoff games during the Division Series vs. the Oakland A's. She noticed that when Paul O'Neill (a favorite of hers) came up to bat, they would often play "Keep the Faith" by Bon Jovi. She had seen a few Bon Jovi shows earlier that summer, and was in a silly phase at the time, posting on the fanclub website, backstagejbj.com. She was also mighty bored at her temp job and loved to post little nothings to pass the time! She started a facetious post entitled "Is Paul O'Neill a Bon Jovi fan?" mentioning that she heard their song play when he came up to bat. Brett was living in Georgia at the time, perusing the same website. He clicked on her profile, which linked him to her email. Pretty soon Tara received an email from Brett, in which he wanted to know details of the games she went to. This started an email friendship, strictly talking baseball throughout the playoffs and the World Series.

Well, it didn't end with the horrible loss to the Diamondbacks. They kept chatting, and things became more personal. Once Brett shared his picture, Tara knew she was in trouble. She shared hers as well, and it became flirtatious and conversations moved to the phone (for 6 hours at a clip!). Brett usually visited his home state of New Jersey once a year, so this time he suggested he come up and visit New York so that they could meet in person, and see some Yankees games of course.

Brett landed in NY on May 16, 2002, and they had an amazing weekend that only confirmed what they already suspected- they were meant to be together! (All pictures on this page are from that very weekend!) After two years of being apart while Brett remained in Georgia, with tons of visits and tearful goodbyes in between, Brett finally returned to New Jersey and the rest is history! And by the way- Paul O'Neill IS a Bon Jovi fan! We've seen him at many a show!