Two Tara Vancils, The Name That Kept Us Apart, and the Domain Name That Brought Us Together
I have maintained this website, taravancil.com, since 2014. It was my final year of college, and I had been waiting years for the taravancil.com domain to become available.
A few years prior, I had the inclination that I needed a website, and that it should be my name. I don't know why I felt possessed to have my own place on the Web; I had no idea I would eventually build a career as a software engineer or the role that websites would play in my life's arc.
I fired up a domain registrar, searched for taravancil.com, and saw that it was already in use. But Vancil is such a rare last name. What are the odds that there's another Tara Vancil?
I visited the site and found that it was a blog maintained by a bright and beaming young woman, who, several years prior, had undergone a heart transplant. She used the site to document her health challenges, and to highlight the importance of organ donation.
I left with the impression that despite being the recipient of a successful transplant, that her health was still in jeopardy.
Tara Lynn Vancil of Burlington, NC
Tara Lynn Vancil died in 2014. You can read her obituary here.
It wasn't long after that, her existing registration for this domain expired, and I was able to purchase it. It was a solemn moment.
Bobby J. Vancil of Mineral Ridge, OH
On March 8, 2023, my grandfather Bobby J. Vancil passed away. He was an absent grandfather—I didn't meet him until I was twelve, and saw him no more than a handful of times after that, so I never knew much about his life. While reading his obituary, I was stopped in my tracks as I read "he was preceded in death by his granddaughter Tara Vancil," because I surely was still alive.
My head spun and I tried to make sense of what I had just read. The possibility crossed my mind. Wait, could it be her? How is that even possible? I did a bit of digging and sure enough, it was true. Tara Vancil of Burlington, NC was my first cousin.
Somehow my grandfather knew he had two granddaughters named Tara Vancil, but never thought to mention it to me or anyone in the family. He was never much of a family guy, so it figures.
I wish so very much that I had the chance to meet Tara while she was still alive, but I am grateful that I have this website as a token of our shared history.