My Tattoo

I was raised with the belief that to have any type of tattooed markings upon your body was a sin. I have always been intrigued by tattoos and thought to myself one day...one day I will get one.

My grandmother is a very artistic woman, she has painted, sewed, crocheted and wrote stories my entire life and probably hers too! She grew up on a ranch out in the Sand Hills of Nebraska, taught school in a one room schoolhouse for many, many years. Staying there through the long winter months, occasionally my grandfather would bring her home on Friday nights (weather permitting) and take her back on Sunday afternoons. She has always been an inspiration to my family, the glue that holds us all together.

At 92 years old with 2 new hips she hiked to the top of the Scottsbluff Monument with me. My grandmother is now 98 and is still living on her own, painting for art shows, volunteers at the soup kitchen, the art gallery and helps her friends who can't get around as easily as she can. She is an inspiration to everyone who knows her and we only hope that we can be as amazing as she is when we get to be her age.

About 2 years ago I was getting ready to travel to see her. I decided to write her a letter to inform her of our arrival date, in that letter I asked her to draw a camera with paintbrushes and maybe some flowers incorporated into it. Her nickname was Granny Flash so I asked if she could maybe add some lightning to it also. Upon my arrival in Nebraska, she gave me the drawing. It was amazing! I thanked her profusely for it. About a year ago I took that drawing and added it the collection of tattoos I have acquired. When I went back to Nebraska this past year to see her, I showed her, her amazing piece of artwork that I will forever carry with me. Had she known I had ever intent on making it a permanent part of me, she would have never drawn it for me! Her excitement upon seeing it was so obvious, it made her smile; which in turn filled my heart with so much happiness!

The original picture which was drawn in pencil is framed and hanging in my house, but I carry this picture with me every day thanks to my amazing artist who made it a permanent part of me. The thing that makes this tattoo or the original drawing so extremely meaningful and dear to my heart is the fact she was 96 years old when I asked her to draw this for me. It is a drawing of her old 35MM camera which she has used in her photography for as long as I can remember! I too have a love for photography which I know I acquired from her and I in turn have passed that love to my daughter, who hopes to also add the drawing that her great grandmother drew to her tattoo collection sometime in the future!

For many years I would walk into a tattoo parlor with every intent on getting one, and every time I would walk back out full of guilt and with naked skin. I am now 43 with 30+ tattoos and add 3-5 new tattoos every year. And had I never got single tattoo up until this one, I would have still made sure that this was forever carried with my upon my skin! One other tattoo I have that has the utmost importance to me, is of my grandfathers brand (a way of marking cattle so you can tell yours apart from your neighbors when they are grazing on public land) and the thing he use to tell us all the time: " Take a deep seat a long rein, and never look back". Some of the best advice I have ever had given and carry it with me every day.