Tattoo

Over the next day or two, I hope to blog about the past five days.  It was busy, but so full of blessings!  But, to give you the whole story, I will start at the beginning, which was Saturday, when both Micah and I arrived in Goshen.  We had decided, prior to mom's death, that we wanted to get memorial tattoos.  This is something I planned on getting when I turned 40 this year, but when Em asked if I wanted to do it with her and Micah as a memorial to mom, I didn't even hesitate.  I was in!

Now, my sister had two tattoos already and my brother had one, so this wasn't new to them.  To ME, however, it was a newbie.  We walked into the tattoo place (parlor?) for our 8pm appointment and I was definitely a fish out of water.  I felt like I didn't belong there.  I mean, I'm WAY too dorky to pull off a tattoo, right?!  Especially when surrounded by people that are covered from head to toe in both art and piercings.  But, I wasn't about to let my dorkiness interfere with our night together.  

I decided to go first.  Partly to get the suspense over with and partly to not have to see my sister and brother in pain and freak myself out in the process!  You'll see that was a very wise decision on my part here in a second.  Our tattoo artist was Ryan and he was very laid back and nice.  You can see he's got a lot of art himself! :-)

Surprisingly it wasn't a really painful process.  Sure.  It hurt at times, but nothing like I expected it was going to be.  We all got the same design, which is this celtic symbol that means "Mother and Child".  I got mine on my neck.  My brother and sister got theirs on their ankles.  I clearly made the better choice.... on the pain scale anyway.

My sister, about 2 seconds into her tat (yes, I'm cool enough to abbreviate it now), wasn't sure if she was going to make it.  She sat there with her eyes closed, not talking, the entire time.  The pain, as she described it, was easier than childbirth! ;-)  We tried laughing and joking around with her, but she wasn't having any part of that.

In fact, I saw her mouth a few words that I won't post here during the most intense parts of the tattoo.  It turned out great though and she was able to get it shaded and everything!

My brother got the same one, only bigger, also on his ankle.  This progression of photos crack me up too.  You'll see he's realizing that it's hurting.  And, as Ryan moves down his ankle....

...the pain gets so bad, that Micah is literally ready to punch him in the face! hahaha  We laughed and had the best time.  Even the guy next to us was laughing. :-)

Apparently, it felt like the needle was going into his ankle bone.  I was never more happy that I choose a different place on my body than I was during his tattoo!  But, like all of ours, his turned out great!

After the emotions of the last 3 weeks, waiting for mom's final days on earth to end, this night of laughter (and pain!) were so refreshing and needed.  Now, though, I am HOOKED!  I am SO ready for my next tattoo! :-)