Columnist found her muse and a cause
CAVE SPRING-“I never thought of myself as a writer, or having anything clever to say,” Tara Nepper said. “I fell into the Bella column completely by accident.”
Cave Spring resident Tara Nepper met Bella Magazine’s publisher, Joey Coakley Beck, at a women’s luncheon. Bella is a regional magazine especially for women, and has a readership of over 60,000.
Nepper was very impressed by Bella’s display, but was so intimidated by Beck that she could not speak with her in person. Nepper later send her a very honest e-mail, confessing to Beck that she is not one of “those women”; she admits to having holes in her pantyhose and lacking coordinated outfits. Beck appreciated Nepper’s honesty, and immediately replied by asking if she would write for the magazine.
Tara Nepper is one of the biggest supporters in Hope for the House, a cause to raise money for a home for terminally ill patients in Roanoke. Here, Nepper sits with other supporters at a poker run in October 2009, which raised money for their cause. In front, Melissa Shorten, Tara Nepper, Trina Jarema, Laura Burchett, Marcy Todd-Hollins. In back, Mike Shorten, Steve Nepper, Steve Hollins, Mike Cagle, Marie Hodgins, and Peter Jarema.
Nepper has been writing for Bella Magazine for almost three years now, and has never looked back. The name of her column, “An Everyday Bella Girl: A Not-So-Ordinary Woman,” is a candid expression of Nepper’s viewpoint on everyday life. She is particularly susceptible to worrying about other people’s opinions, and suffers from many everyday insecurities. Nepper finds that she can address these insecurities in her column.
“It tests the waters to see if other people feel the same way,” Nepper said.
She receives feedback every month from people she has never met before, but who have nevertheless been touched by what she has written.
Nepper also appreciates her column because it gives her the opportunity to discuss the causes which she is passionate about. Her biggest priority right now, besides her children, is raising awareness about Hope for the House.
“Besides being a mom, that’s really the thing that I’m the most focused on,” Nepper said.
Hope for the House is a non-profit organization which began as a tribute to Nepper’s close friend Nicole Cagle. Cagle battled breast cancer for five years, but finally lost the fight in June. Nepper cannot say enough about the amazing person Cagle was, even when she was sick.
In her final days, Cagle realized that she did not want to blemish her home, which she shared with her husband and sons, with the memory of her death. In the last days of her life, Cagle decided to return to the hospital, which is where she passed.
Nepper, along with others close to Cagle, wanted a way to honor Cagle after her death. They eventually realized that a home for terminally ill patients to spend their dying days would benefit Cagle’s memory, and the Roanoke Valley, the most. If Cagle had had a place like this, a home away from home, she would not have had to die in a hospital bed. Now, the best they can do is provide that place for others, in Cagle’s memory.
Since October, when the first fundraiser was held, the memorial fund has raised almost $9,000.
“Our goal is a million, so we have a long way to go,” Nepper said.
Still, Nepper believes that $9,000 is a significant amount of money for only four months of fundraising.
“It just goes to show how much support Nicole had, and how good this would be for the community,” Nepper said.
While Hope for the House is very important to Nepper, the cause still comes in second to her passion for her children.
On top of writing for Bella, raising money for her causes, participating in mission trips with her church, and working at Virginia Western Community College as the Event Planning and Scheduling Coordinator, Cagle is a full-time mother to three children.
Her oldest daughter, Alyssa, is 18, and a senior at Cave Spring High School. She plans to attend Virginia Western Community College in the fall.
“Obviously, I am thrilled,” Nepper said about Alyssa’s decision to attend community college. “I’m just not ready to let her go.”
Alyssa Nepper hopes to one day work with autistic children.
Nepper’s other children are Lauren, 14, and Olivia, 11. Both attend Cave Spring Middle School, and both are unique individuals. Lauren loves all kinds of sports, while Olivia is interested in everything; she will try anything once.
“She’s very bold,” Nepper said.
Nepper has turned her passion for her children into another civic duty: she is the president of the Cave Spring Middle School PTA.
“I feel very passionately about parent involvement in their child’s’ education,” Nepper said.
She also has a stepdaughter, Summer, who is 24 and lives in Nebrasa. Nepper shares her home with her dog, Lola; her husband, Steve; her mother; and her mother’s dog, Bella (no relation to the magazine).
Nepper is also working towards a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing Communications from Mary Baldwin College; most of her classes are either independent study or online.
With everything on her plate, Nepper admits to sometimes struggling to get everything done. She somehow finds the time, however.
“We all have things in our life that we’re passionate about,” Nepper said. “I just fit it in.”
She receives much help from her close group of friends, as well as her live-in mother.
“I’m not sure I could take on everything I do if I didn’t have my mom around helping,” Nepper said.
Sometimes things do fall through the cracks, however. She has had to make decisions between spending time with her family and studying.
She’ll choose her family every time.
More information about Hope for the House can be found at NicoleMemorial.org.
