I am going to start this week's post off by apologizing to my grandma who might have a heart attack after reading this. I know you do not, and never have, approved of tattoos and I hope you aren’t too mad when you realize I didn’t take your advice to just “get a temporary one” or to "do it in sharpie". There are some things in life that you just don’t want to be temporary…

I was always that little girl who would come home with sharpie all over her body. They were usually things like little flowers or, my personal favorite, dots around my ankle but, they'd always wash off eventually. This year when I turned 18 I knew exactly what I wanted for my birthday, my very first tattoo. I had a few ideas in my mind of what I wanted to get and had done my research of the shops in the Buffalo area when I finally told my mom my plan. She was not surprised at all but, surprised me instead when she told me that she wanted to get one with me. So, with a month away from my birthday, we began planning. We wanted something that meant a lot to the both of us as well as something that would connect us with each other forever.

I previously wrote an article about my close bond with my grandpa. He was and always will be my hero, best friend, and guardian angel. I’d always wanted a tattoo to honor him but, since you have to be 18 to get a tattoo in New York State, I stuck it out and substituted with a guardian angel necklace that I can only remember taking off three times in the past three years. So, when my mom suggested getting a caduceus, the symbol of medicine you probably see plastered all over hospitals, to honor him and his love for his job as a pediatrician I agreed right away. We spent some time deciding on what design to go with, whether to go more artistic or to just get the basic symbol. We eventually decided that our tattoos didn’t have to be exactly alike and picked out our individual designs.

Before we knew it we found ourselves sitting in a tattoo shop, Divine Machine Tattoos, as our artist, the amazing Zach Zahn, was drawing up our tattoos. We talked about a lot of things while in the shop, about grandpa and me being 18. My favorite thing we talked about though was about how long I had been wanting a tattoo for.

“You’ve wanted this for ten years, you know that right?” my mom said. She talked about me coming home with sharpie all over myself and my talking about wanting to get a tattoo. I knew I always wanted one and here I finally was; 18 years old sitting in a tattoo shop with my best friend. I think the fact that my mom got it with me just made it that much more special. Not only was this something that would constantly remind me of my grandpa but, it would also be something that would always connect me with my mom.

We had decided on the side of the ribs for the location. I want to work in education and although tattoos are becoming more accepted some employers are still turned-off by them; my mom works in fundraising and once again, not everyone is thrilled about giving money to someone with a big tattoo on their arm. It was also a place that felt very personal. It was hidden, almost like a little secret, so not just anyone could see it. It’s a tattoo that is supposed to be personal, a reminder of the amazing man who left his footprints on our hearts, so we both loved the spot.

Everyone says the ribs are the most painful area to get a tattoo but, to be very honest, it wasn’t as bad as I would have thought. I hyped myself up throughout the day until I was expecting the worst pain only for it to be extremely tolerable. It was more of an annoying feeling than a painful feeling and when it was done I forgot about the pain all together. I’m someone who has a very low pain tolerance so if I can do it pretty much anyone can.

The end product was amazing and I find myself, even today, admiring Zach’s work. I still keep my necklace, simply because I’ve found out the hard way that it makes me extremely anxious to take it off as I keep going to reach for it (I have a bad habit of playing with it absent-mindedly) and getting terrified when it isn’t there, but now I have a more permanent reminder of someone who meant so much to me as well as a reminder of the bond my mom and I share. I also seem to have found myself hooked on the adrenaline of getting a tattoo so, sorry grandma but your little sweetheart might have a little more ink on her the next time you see her.