Etched in my Heart, and Skin {PowerHouseCreatives Contest}
Hey there friends! I'm setting aside the food and fitness for a story of love and tattoos today. I promised @foxyspirit I would join in on her tattoo contest and share one of my most meaningful pieces of body art. This just so happens to fit nicely into the latest @steemitbloggers/#powerhousecreatives contests to write a love story. Everyone gives and receives love a little differently, but in my family we literally wear our love on our "sleeves". Pun intended. 😉
I don't believe I have shared a lot about these two, but their union created yours truly. They celebrated 40 years of marriage this past August, with all of its ups and downs. I think it's a true testament to their commitment that they survived having 3 daughters (I am the middle child in case you were wondering). We definitely didn't make it easy on them, especially those pesky teenage years. I am particularly grateful that they managed to find that challenging balance of providing us with discipline, support, love and a strong work ethic. Not to mention loyalty. I am happy that as an adult I have such an open and caring relationship with each of them.
Obviously you can see both of them have their own tattoos, and my dad in particular has plenty to represent all of his ladies. You can see the K on one arm is for me (Katie). Further down on that same arm he has a traditional banner and rose for each of us. In addition he has quite a few dragon tattoos from a number of different styles. My mom has a nice little collection, as well. My sisters and I all have a few ourselves, and even each have a matching one to represent our sisterhood (with all of ITS ups and downs, haha). The one of mine that I am choosing to share with you today, however, is the one I got to physically represent the unconditional love I have for my parents.
It is not one most people get to see very often, but I chose the spot on my ribs to be close to my heart. Yes, it hurt. The rib area is not a pleasant location for needles. When choosing that spot I didn't realize that I am more tender on my left side, as well. Not that tattoos are generally pleasant anyway, but some parts of the body are much less sensitive than others. Obviously the discomfort isn't so bad that it turns us off for more as there are very few people that I know with only one tattoo. I think @foxyspirit agrees that they can be quite addicting. 😜
Above is a close up shot of the tattoo right after it was finished. Hard for me to believe this was 13 years ago! The subject matter was a combination of the dragon for my dad's many dragon tattoos and the fairy was styled after my favorite of my mother's tattoos. She has a similar fairy looking down at a snail on a mushroom. I still love how sweet of an image my tattoo artist came up with to bring the two images together. Speaking of him, all of my tattoos have been done by my dad's best buddy, Big Mike. I'm lucky to have someone who is basically a part of my family do all of my work.
Here are a few more of the process photos:
(That smile didn't last long, ha!)
Like many people with body art, all of my tattoos have some meaning. A few represent love and family like this one, and others a major turning point in my life that I wanted to mark. I haven't gotten one in 4 years, but my next will be something for my niece. She has definitely marked me in the best way possible!
I remember when I got this one having multiple people ask me if I was worried if this would look bad when I got older. Well, the way I figure is I'll either be old enough by then to keep my saggy bits covered or I won't care what anyone else thinks anyway. The colors fade a bit as time goes on, but the sentiment behind it only grows stronger....
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Great Story ! I'm not that into tattoos myself, but I get it. Your parents did a great job! You really do look a lot like your mom and your dad looks one of those tough guys with a heart of gold.
Awesome post !
My boyfriend doesn't have any either, and will probably never get any despite his having helped design the last one that I got. 😉 You pegged my dad totally. He's a sucker for his girls, especially the wee little one that calls him "Pops". 💓
Awwwwww....what a cute looking tattoo i love it :)
Thank you! I do really love my cute little dragon. Most of my dad's are much more fierce, but I prefer the sweeter side. ;)
Of course his has to be more fierce his a man you are a lady and ladies like cute things...lol :)
OMG!!!!
your mother is YOURSELF!!!!
What a nice couple, very authentic.
Haha, I have been getting that more as I get older. I'm about 6 inches taller than her, but carry some of her features otherwise! My older sister is my dad (minus the beard 😉).
Frikken awesome! It’s so nice to see you @plantstoplanks. Your parents have definitely set a good example then of what it means to be in a lasting, loving, marriage. Good job Parents. I love the symbol you got to represent your love for them. Truly precious. I’ll be equally excited to see what you come up with to represent your energizer bunny niece :).
Tattoos are addicting and I never have really thought about it before but you’re right, I don’t know anyone with just one either. Like I said, it’s good to see you Katie. Thank you for sharing this story with us! You rock.
It's kind of fun to peel back another layer of the onion every now and again to let everyone see a bit more. We are running straight into family birthday season (we are ALL spring babies), so I think I always get a bit nostalgic and family-oriented around this time. Even more so than the winter holidays for some reason.
I could probably easily do a whole sleeve for that little nugget of mine! Since I've gotten to spend so much time with her over her 3 years of life I have many memories that stand out. I'm not quite sure if I really want a huge piece, though, so I plan on thinking about it until it just clicks and I know what suits her best. It might be a while before I ask her opinion because if I gave her a choice I'd end up with a bright pink puppy or something equally silly!
A bright pink puppy would be kind of dope if you ask me. Haha
I have a few tattoos myself and 3 of them I did in memory of my Dad. If I was a little smarter and wasn’t as upset I may have waited until figured out just what I would want in a tattoo to honor him. Not say that my tattoos aren’t honoring him, they are, but I think I could’ve done something a bit less dramatic. Haha… super secretive, I know. You’ll know what the piece will be when you know. Like you said, it’ll just click and then in the chair you’ll go.
Over the years, I have many times thought of tattoos.
And when the kids came one after the other even more.
I'd imagine one with their initials designed into a mandala of sorts close to my heart...
But alas I am way too chicken for it...
Funny, I was just talking to my daughter today, and every now and then she'd talk about something and I know where it's leading and I always tease her with heavy hints of No. And today it was about tattoos.
That's exactly what I said to her, that it wouldn't look so pretty when she got older. And we were going back and forth in jest.
And that brought me to telling her how my Mum had got a tattoo. And it was so old school, her cousin I think used a needle and ink and just poked away at a cross on her left wrist.
Bless her, that woman was quite a dare devil.
That's a beautiful story of the tattoo.
Thank you for sharing :D
I love that story of your mother! Sounds like she was a rare type of woman! I don't think I would have any if that's how they still did them, haha!
How old is your daughter? I was actually the oldest out of my sisters when I got my first one. I waited all the way until 21, though looking back now I was still a baby then when I really think about it. I have no regrets on any of my pieces, so I am happy about that. I know plenty of people who aren't quite so happy with their early choices. Perhaps because my parents were so open about it and had their own body art it made me understand more how real it is when you commit to engraving something into your skin for a lifetime!
Though I'm not too worried about what mine will look like later on, it is a real consideration that you definitely don't want to take lightly. So good for you mama for making sure your daughter does think about it!
Thanks for popping in, and I'm glad you enjoyed my story! Perhaps some time soon I'll share some of the others that I have. :)
Thanks for sharing the story of your tattoos with us. It's so nice to learn real things and real people and get to know you better.
Aww, happy you enjoyed reading about it! I know I enjoy reading some of the personal stories people share, so it's only fair to give a little back on my end.
Thats such a beautiful piece, made even more special with your story about how it came to be So sweet
and it reminds me I did promise someone to do a post or two about my tattoos and the story behind them months ago and I never got around to it, that is something i just added to my posts to do list ;)
I think I remember you saying something about that, so I'd love to see some of yours and hear the stories! They really can be such a great form of expression. I'll maybe share some of my other ones another time.
Apart from my little run for a selfie contest I have a mental block with being in photos I got out of my way to not be in photos so thats something I have to also work on if I am going to do the pos ton mY tattoos lOL
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Thanks!
I got my first tattoo just before I hit 40.
Maybe it's the start of what most people will call it mid-life-crisis, I don't really know.
But, I love it and am thinking of getting it expanded with some add-ons designs.
Haha, I think that's fairly common. Maybe not always a crisis, but many people just finally decide to take the jump and get something they've always wanted. Glad you love yours! I'd love to see what you've got and what else you might want to get. :)