Permanent Ink..

Otherwise known as Tattoos. Yes I have them.. more now than before. I got my first one for my 30th birthday. My little brother got it for me as my present. My friend Nancy did the artwork. It is small, discreet and meaningful. It was done low on my left breast. ( Low because I had a very bad sunburn!) A year or so later I had the same tattoo put on my left ankle along with a set of puppy paws put on my right shoulder. That was over 12 years ago. They have blurred a little and faded.

Since Kierra's death I have been looking for someone to do a special tattoo for me. I finally found an artist who heard what I meant and created one beyond my expectations. He also came up with an idea to cover the puppy paws as well. I was impressed and very touched that he was so in tune and cared about what he was doing for me. I decided to go ahead with a couple ideas I also wanted done. He is visiting from Brooklyn and was filling in at the studio only for a couple weeks. He then helped me create a way to tie it all together and I am so pleased with it. They are unique and meaningful to me. No one else will be walking around with my tattoos. He didn't even take pictures of them for his portfolio. He said we created them together for me, no one else. That means alot to me.

Was it painful? YES. But it held a purpose for me. The pain was not more than I have ever experienced and it was short term. Some were more painful than others. It was cathartic for me.

I will not display them here, sadly, because I do not want them copied. If you want a tattoo to memorialize Kierra or just to express yourself, great, design your own. It should mean something to you individually. Every tattoo studio has hundreds of designs on the wall, a good artist will help customize them for you or help you create your own from any idea you might have.

Our guy took a photo we have of Kierra's tattoos and created an awesome armband for Brian. He got it done on Wednesday. I am going today to get the old tattoo on my chest redesigned. Matt leaves Saturday, so I guess I will be done for now. Tattoos are not for everyone, and some people have pretty strong feelings against them. I respect everyone's right to their opinion as long as they respect mine. Kierra's reaction would be........"Sweeeeet"