Ink

I may have mentioned that Dayna and I
got new tattoos on Saturday.

A little shop called
True Blue Tattoo
on sixth and Red River
in downtown Austin.

Or "dirty sixth" as it's called.
Apparently.

We chose our tattoo artist,

because of her amazing ability
to create beautiful
extraordinary
beyond belief
color.

Crisp.
Sharp.
Exquisite.

The rose on her business card?
It's a tattoo.

Dayna went first.
Because she is braver than I am.
Which is to say that she was afraid she would chicken out
if she had to watch me go first.

And,
as it happens,
she would have.
As I screamed.
And cried.
And cussed like a sailor.

More on that later.

But Dayna was a champ.

Even though it did hurt.
At least a little.

Cara did an awesome job.

Dayna's phoenix looks stunning.

Once she was done
it was my turn.

I have a low back tattoo, see.
And I haven't loved it for quite some time.
I have been thinking of ways to add on to it
make it look less like a "tramp stamp"
and a little more like a tattoo.
Like art.
Like something that held some meaning
and looked
....
pretty.

I told this to Cara.
That I wanted birds.
Maybe some flowers, too.

And this
after an hour of twitching
writhing
screaming
clenching
kicking
biting
and cussing
is what she created using
my vague description of what I wanted
and her ridiculous tattoo prowess:

The tribal design was the existing tattoo
the outlined parts are Cara's addition.

I will go back in three weeks to add shading
and lots
and lots
color.

I
cannot
wait.

Tattoos might not be your thing
and that's okay.

But this tattoo
is a big deal
to me.
Each bird
represents one of my girls,

Elena
and
Stella

while simultaneously being a tribute
to both my grandmother Helen and her love of Cardinals
and to Lucinda and her birdie.

Yesterday was my Gramma's birthday.
Or rather it would have been.

Sunday is the anniversary of Cooper's death.

And next Thursday is Stella's 1st birthday.

When the tattoo was finished
it was difficult for me not to cry.

Because this one
more than any of my others
means
so
very
very much.

Which makes the pain
so very worth it.

Cheers,
A