2.26.2009

Fresh Ink

This is the tattoo I had done two weeks ago. As soon as my mom was hospitalized with heart failure three weeks ago, I knew I would have to get one in celebration because she survived.




It's ironic, in a way, she was in the hospital on Wear Red Day, February 6th, and they were having a huge campaign there for women's heart health. I suddenly realized that week how important having a healthy heart is -- I suppose it is something we take for granted until we are shocked with something that awakens us.

Fortunately, mom's heart failure was caused by a virus. It has since been determined that her heart and cardiovascular system are actually in quite good condition, aside the virus, so far there is no indication of heart disease. So I'm quite thankful for that; nonetheless, I already have enough risk factors for heart disease of my own, without inheriting it from mom, too.

I'm making some changes, albeit slowly (because I always change slowly) to my lifestyle to help protect my heart, and this tattoo will always be a reminder.


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46 comments:

  1. Ooh, cool :)

    Slow changes are the best, aren't they. I know this in my brain. I just don't know it in the stupider parts of myself :)

    You know, if I was a lesbian, and if you were a lesbian and available (or else an adulterous lesbian, in which case you'd fry twice), I reckon I'd ask you out.

    So pretty lucky on a whole lot of counts, huh :)

    So you get inked to remind yourself of stuff. I should do that. Get a to-do list inked onto my forehead :)
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  2. You are sooo sweet Sue, and I'm sure if the situation were such, I'd say yes!

    Slow changes are tough, because with the really important things, like health, diet, exercise, quick change is better...but unfortunately not as long lasting.

    All of my tattoos are reminders of something, mostly of freedom, but also how I need to be sure not to ride off into the sunset away from God in my new freedom, which some days is tempting.

    Do you have any ink?
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  3. Och, ride away into the sunset. He'll be at the other end when you get there ;)

    Nope, a virgin body when it comes to ink. Tempted, but probably not.
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  4. I love your new ink Erin. What does your mom think of it?
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  6. okay, I am so NOT a "heart" person, but that is way cool. :)
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  7. Nice looking tat Erin. I'm getting a new one this year too and I might even add on to one that I already have.
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  8. Erin,
    I really like this tatoo! I love the whole design...and the red and black.

    As well, I love the pink on your bangs! Very cool!

    What a precious memory that will forever remain on you of your mother. And, she lives on in your heart (and in Heaven). You both will meet again someday.

    Blessings,
    ~Amy :)
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  9. I LOVE that heart! And I also love your hair! I don't have any ink (scared of needles and pain, haha) but I wish I did.
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  10. Sue - oh I know he'll be there, but it's so much easier, as I have learned, to stay put than to run.
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  11. Mom loves it, Lyn. She's been sending photos of it to her friends, LOL. Mom has wanted to get a tattoo since I started getting them, but she hasn't decided what she wants yet.
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  13. Sara - I'm soooo totally not a heart person either, but I really like this one.
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  14. Whatcha gonna get, Mike?
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  15. Amy - Thanks!

    I have the impression you think mom died, but she survived...it was touch and go for awhile, but she is going to be OK.
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  16. Heidi - Thanks! Tattoos are really not intolerable, but I know that some people just don't like the idea of the pain. I had to think about it for a long time before I did it, but was surprised I had made it out in my head to be worse than it was.
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  17. That's super cool Erin. A tattoo just isn't a tattoo if it doesn't point to something meaningful and significant in the bearer's life (big symbolic tattoo wearer/fan here). So glad your Mum is able to recover and that your beautiful tattoo is a constant reminder of that.
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  18. Hi Fiona! Thanks! I would love it if you would post some pictures and explanations of your ink on your blog. I'm fascinated by people's stories...
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  19. LOVE IT!!!!

    What's your artists name again?
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  20. Thanks Donna. I usually go to Dustin Ranck, but this one was by Aaron Goodrich -- he did Pam's sparrows. They are both at Icon Tattoo.
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  21. Very nice.
    Taking Sam to have hers done today reminded me that I want more, but I want to make sure I have the right design first. And I want it to be unique to me like my first tattoo was.
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  22. That's really the key, Barry, is having it be something unique and meaningful to you. People think some of mine are weird, but I don't care, because they are mine.

    I like Sam's tattoo, who designed it? Was it your idea?
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  23. No, it wasn't my idea, it was Sam's. She designed it as well.

    She's been thinking about a tattoo for a while but a few weeks ago she decided that she was going to get it done as it's one of the few things she can do despite her illness.
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  24. HEY! I LOVE IT! And I'm glad to hear your mom's heart was a virus!!!

    I think I feel a bit jealous by what Sue said! ;)
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  25. Barry - Well I like it. I'm glad she got to do this...
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  26. Really Barbara? Do you think you have some latent lesbian tendencies going on?

    You know, I often wish there was a third gender. Cos I don't really want to be a lesbian, but I don't want to be hetero either :D
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  28. Sue - A third gender? Like, the best of both worlds?
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  29. Yeah!! Like, they look like men on the outside, with all the man bits and the man smell and stuff ... actually, thinking a little further about this, maybe a man on the inside too, because I like men and the way they think and stuff, and the way they look at the world. So basically exactly the same, but with an extra dose of being able to get the fuck where women come from, and vice versa :) That would be dandy :)

    Ahhhh, I'm so bitter and twisted. It's very sad :)
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  30. So really you just want a metrosexual? A man that can "get" women.
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  31. No, metrosexuals are too clean. Need scruff. Sweat and scruff.
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  32. No real man fully understands women. We're just not programmed that way.
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  33. No, it doesn't seem to be the case, does it? God messed up (I'll blame him ;)

    Don't mind me criticising your people, Barry :) Of course in these sorts of situations it's always quite obvious that the problem doesn't lie so much with the object of irritation as it lies with the irritated :)
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  34. We girls are quite the enigma, aren't we Barry?

    For whatever reason, I do think God planned it this way. Weird as it may be.
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  35. Yeah, I reckon God planned it that way too, Erin. Something about the two parts making up a greater sum than their parts.

    I'm just pissed off that I couldn't do it, that's all :) Or at least that my falling apart happened within my marriage and I couldn't stay there.

    But hey, I felt like God told me not to go there beforehand. Me, I just thought he was trying to withhold something from me, and didn't listen :)

    Anyway, as you were. Sorry for hijacking your new tat unveiling (I really love it) to rave on about myself!! :D
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  36. Sue, you can hijack my threads anytime. You're OK.

    But yes, as frustrating as it may be, the differences are probably a good thing.

    Even if you felt God told you not to go there...well who of us hasn't made THAT mistake? We always think we know better, I know I have...I think it's a mature thing to realize it and to grow up trying not to be such know-it-alls before God.
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  37. I think it's very cool that your mom wants a tattoo!
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  38. In fact, she does. We'll see if it ever really happens.
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  39. Just wanted to throw out that I like the third gender idea Sue has, I get exactly what she means!

    (sorry took me a few days to get back here)
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  40. Interesting. Had never thought of such a thing, but it must be a joyful experience, each time you remember your mother's recovery!
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  41. Barbara - I think it's a great idea!
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  42. Monk in Training - You hadn't thought about tattoos at all or just not about getting one to celebrate someone?
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  43. I already have a wolf howling at a yellow moon behind purple clouds on a desert floor. I might add on to the desert landscape
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  44. Once again you make me jealous. The sheets of paper with my future tattoos on them are piling up. I don't see affording them being in my near future though.
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  45. Mike - My husband says, should he ever get one, it will be a wolf. But he's not that brave yet. :)
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  46. Hey Steven...nice to see you. This one was only a C-note...I don't have the cash for anything more right now, either. I hope the opportunity comes up for you, eventually.
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