5 minute read
Meet the Tavella Family: Life is a Marathon, Not a Sprint.
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Photo by Kim Lind Photography
Story by Alexandra Sullivan, Resident since 2017
One of the world’s best runners, Hal Higdon, wisely said,
No family knows this sentiment better than the Tavella family.
EJ and Becky Tavella have a classic college love story. They met in the freshman dorms at Cal Poly, stayed friends for a couple of years, and then finally began to date during their junior year of college. Both Nor Cal natives, they actually grew up only 25 minutes away from each other, in Sacramento and Davis, respectively. Becky graduated in 1996 with a Liberal Studies degree, and EJ graduated in 1997 with a BS in Business Administration/ Finance. In 1998, the two tied the knot in their beloved college town, San Luis Obispo.
“Shortly after we got married we purchased our first home in a quaint part of San Jose… While we needed to be in the San Jose area for our jobs, we knew we wouldn’t stay for long,” Becky said. During those early years of marriage, Becky and EJ welcomed Muggins, a lively black labrador retriever. After three years of wedded bliss, Becky became pregnant… with twins!
In an unfortunate twist, Becky’s pregnancy didn’t go as smoothly as she always hoped, “My pregnancy was very difficult, even though I felt great. All twin pregnancies are automatically considered ‘high risk’ according to my doctor, but mine lived up to it as I had to go on full bed rest at 22 weeks.” She was on bed rest for three months and had to be in and out of the hospital, while the doctors closely monitored the two precious girls she was carrying. Six weeks before their due date, Emma and Kate made their entrance into the world, each weighing less than 5lbs. The girls had to remain in the NICU for 3 weeks, while Becky and EJ went home. “It was a really difficult time to leave your teeny, tiny babies at the hospital, but we knew they were healthy and just needed some time to ‘grow’...The good news for us, neither baby needed a ventilator, as their lungs were strong, even on the day they were born.”
In 2003, the Tavella family made their way to Danville. EJ was busy with Steelwedge, the company he co-founded in Pleasanton, and Becky was settling into life in the Wood Ranch neighborhood, even adding another beautiful baby girl, Sofia, to their family in 2004. “I often attribute my close friends [in] Danville and our community for making it much easier to entertain young children when Daddy was away.” EJ is now a partner in the consulting firm at End to End Analytics in Palo Alto and has spent many hours traveling all over. Also keeping the girls company during EJ’s long work trips was their beloved dog Muggins, and after he passed away 5 years ago, Wrigley the golden-doodle took over the dog duties.
This spring the whole family went to Mexico to build homes on a missions trip with CPC. It was a goal to all be there together, before Kate and Emma graduated.
Becky and EJ shared. A couple of years ago, when Sofia hit 8th grade, and Emma and Kate were at SRVHS, the Tavella family settled in a home located in the hills behind the high school, “It is a different feel than the blockparty days of millions of kids running around Wood Ranch, but suits us for the time of life we are entering.” They’ve even dubbed it their “forever home.”
The Tavella family also uses running as a way to explore during their travels.
This past summer Becky and EJ celebrated 20 years of marriage, and to mark that milestone, they planted a 300 vine vineyard! “EJ has dreams of actually making wine, like his Italian grandfather used to do, and not just having pretty grapes dotting our landscaping. We are several years away from this, but are enjoying the process of learning all there is to know about home vineyards.”
Sports are central to Team Tavella (the moniker that first graced a family text thread and quickly grew to encompass the family’s all-for-one mentality). When the girls were young, they dabbled in the typical array of youth sports, but never found one that they loved. Soccer provided the ability to run - and run fast - and the girls started running exclusively in middle school. Kate and Emma made their marks in the Junior Olympic Circuit, and both hold records (3200 for Kate and 1600 for Emma) at SRVHS. Both girls are continuing their running careers into college, Emma at UCLA and Kate at Georgetown University. Sofia has battled through 2 surgeries that sidelined her for a couple of years, but is surprising everyone with her grit and grace during her return to running at SRVHS.
Running is more than a sport for the Tavellas. It is “a way to spend time together, stay healthy, stay positive.” Seven years ago, Becky made the decision to undergo a prophylactic mastectomy and oophorectomy, due to being diagnosed with the BRCA2 gene and being given an 87% chance of getting breast cancer, like her mother, aunt, and many other women in her family before. “Running became my therapy through all the surgeries and appointments and was my ‘go to’ to show my daughters that if they ever had to deal with this someday, they could be strong, healthy and in charge of their bodies...calling the shots before cancer had a chance.” In a true feat of strength during that time, Becky accomplished her dream of running the Boston Marathon, with Team Tavella cheering her on.
EJ, Becky, Kate, Emma, and Sofia, through their own trials and successes, are all great examples of this classic quote,
