When I was younger I remember my mother wanting a tattoo, and my dad telling her that if she put a picture of it on the wall and she liked it after 3 months, or 6 months, or some amount of time, that she could get it. I never saw the picture- and she never got that tattoo.
Aug 27th, 2012, 169 days ago, I put my picture up. And for the last 169 days I’ve still wanted this tattoo.
I’ve wanted a tattoo for a long time, but I never had that “picture” to hang on the wall. I could never make up my mind about something I’d really like enough to have with me forever. After I got married and moved so far from home I decided I wanted to get something with my brother. Because I’ve only got 1, so he’s the absolute best (I almost said he’s the bomb and then thought he might not appreciate the 1990’s compliment). I wanted something more than our DNA, which we had no choice in, to link us together. I want people to ask me why I have this tattoo, and say I got it with my brother, and it binds us together.
We looked at some stuff for awhile, but none of it really spoke to me.
Until recently when I found my forever ink, my constant reminder. Something that’s not about my past, or just the present or what I want in the future, but all of it combined.
N 43 51’ 58.0367”
W 103 31’ 56.1533”
This is the place where I feel whole. Where I simultaneously feel so small in the world and yet so meaningful. Where my family spent almost every vacation. The memories and love I have from here are overwhelming. It was somewhere I even took my husband when we were still dating and wanted him to love as much as me.
It’s Native American history, it’s nature, it’s Harley-Davidson, it’s tears outside a frozen lake, it’s family, it’s friends, it’s meditation, it’s a party, it’s a cold ride, it’s my dad overcoming disease and it will be our ashes.
The only problem is… getting J on board. He hates tattoos, apparently. Although I’ve heard him say how hot those rocker/50’s girls are with all their tattoos. And, he even said he’d get one, one time, in a Waffle House, with witnesses, and it wasn’t even 2 am.
I’ve been leaving hints and sending him messages at work… http://imgfave.com/view/2565757. But he’s not budging. In fact recently he’s just been ignoring the idea. Whatev’s… I’ll keep trying