I Did It..... and you won't believe it.

Yes, I did it.... and for some of you, you'll probably be really shocked and perhaps disappointed... but I did it, and now it's here forever.

I got a tattoo. It's a tribute to my mother's battle with breast cancer, and my overcoming breast cancer now for 2 years. The butterfly is symbolic of the new life, beautiful and free, that my mother has now in Heaven. The breast cancer ribbon is the body of the butterfly. The blue is my mother's favorite color, and I think it's beautiful.


Did it hurt???? You betcha... It took over an hour, and I had to use my childbirthing breathing exercises to get through the pain of it all. It really hurt, especially the outlining, and especially when he was working on top of a bone. Hurt.... oh yeah.

Regrets? Some..... I know that some people will be disappointed that I did it. Like some of my choir parents. I plan to keep it covered up during rehearsals. I know that they'll be concerned that I'll be a bad influence on their kids. I hope that people can get past that, and realize that it was my choice to do this... and I love it. I have given it a whole lot of thought, for several years now. I love my butterfly tattoo... it makes me happy inside, and reminds me of my mother, who I miss terribly.

Christian likes it. He saw it and thought it was a boo boo. I told him it was a butterfly, and he smiled. And several times, I'd ask him, "Where's Grandma's butterfly?" and he'd come point to my ankle. He likes it. It's alot smaller than Dyan's tattoo, or my sisters. They both have butterfly / breast cancer ribbons too. My sister's is on her chest, over her heart, and Dyan's is on the small of her back. They both have big tattoos...

I just hope that people aren't disappointed in me.... but, ya know, I'm 51 years old, and I guess I can make my own decisions, right? And besides, I love it.

Here are some pics of the process and the final result.

The first picture is when they put the carbon copy / design on my ankle, to check the placement and if I really liked it and wanted to proceed. I said yes. And the whole time I was thinking, "What am I DOING?????" And then it was too late, cause he started cutting in the tattoo...

This picture is after most of the outlining was done. Messy, huh? Man, it hurt!

This is Martin. He is from Venezuela. He was fun to listen to, and I think he is a really good tattoo artist. He showed me the newly packaged needles, and the container where he puts the used ones in to be disposed of. He was very clean, neat & careful. He would stop every once in a while and ask if I was okay. He did a good job.

All done! I went to Dyan's house, and she took these next 2 pictures, so you can see how big it is in relation to my ankle. I love it...

And here is the close up. Isn't it pretty? I asked him if he's ever had a Grandma come in for a tattoo, and he said "All the time!" In fact, the other day, he had a 92 year old man in getting a tattoo, and before that, and 80 year old woman! Imagine that!

And that's my life so far...