I love my tats!

 I love my tattoos!  The pictures to the right are not any that I sport; however, I love seeing people flaunting their artwork!

I have a tattoo on my right outer calf and on my back, to the right of my left shoulder blade.  On my leg, I have my son and my daughter's names, separated by a heart.  It isn't big; only about 2 x 2 inches.  It is written in blues and pinks and is very colorful.  The tat on my back is of a tree.  It is about 3 x 3 inches large.  The trunk is a deep red and the leaves (it's a Maple) are bright green.  It is very noticeable through light colored clothing.

I didn't get tats to make a statement or to rebel.  I was 45 years old when I got them.  I wanted to put two things on my body that I have always loved and will continue to love; my chiildren and trees.  If you have read any of my poetry, you will see that I write a lot about trees.  I love them.  My children of course, don't need an explanation!

When I finally found the gumption to get a tattoo, I visited the parlor first to inquire about pricing and how they actually made tattoos.  I was told that the price depended on the size but the two I wanted and the fact they were small would cost me under $100.  I was also told that the artist could pen them himself or I could create the image I wanted and they would make an ink pattern of it, shrink it to the wanted size and then inject the colors over the pattern.  That is what I chose to do.

When I arrived at the parlor, it was a very hot day and the air conditioning was broken at the place of business.  I sweat like a pig most days and the fact that I was nervous and had already applied deodorant three times that day didn't help.  I expected to get right in but arrived to find the woman ahead of me had decided to get 2 extra tats and they were running behind.  Not good.  You see, I am a type A person.  I am very anxious and when I have to think about something (like pain) I get all sweaty, dizzy and a bit nauseous. 

I sat in the hot waiting room for about 15 minutes and could kind of see the artist applying the ink to the woman's leg.  All of a sudden I got a hot flash that could have cooked noodles and I went flying into the bathroom.  I experienced the dry heaves for about 10 minutes and kept splashing cool water on my face.  When I thought I could enter the main room again, I had a wet paper towel dripping on my forehead and asked the receptionist if she had a fan I could sit in front of.  She didn't think they did but they'd look.

Meanwhile, the woman before me was done and the young man (he looked about 14) came out and said he was ready for me.  He made the ink image of my pictures I had made and I chose the colors I wanted to use.  I was sweating profusely and had a hard time rolling up my capri pant leg because it was stuck to my leg.  I kept asking for a fan and stated that I feared I would pass out if I didn't have one, or worse yet, throw up.  The young man miraculously found one in a closet and turned the speed to high as it blew in my face. 

Surprisingly, the names of my children (on my calf) was pretty easy and didn't really hurt more than someone scraping my leg with their sharp finger nails.  Wow! Pretty easy.  I sat up with confidence and then stated that I did want the tree put on my back.  He said he would do the trunk first.  Holy shit!  I couldn't believe the pain.  I spotted a screwdriver on a nearby table and demanded he give it to me.  Apprehensive, he asked why.  I told him I needed something to deflect the pain and I proceeded to push it into the palm of my hand as he dotted me with needles hundreds of times, inking the trunk in red.  Tears rolled down my cheeks and I kept doing Lamaze breathing which didn't help a bit.  He was understanding and kept giving me water to drink and stopping every 10 jabs to give me a rest.  I think (I don't really remember) it took about 45 minutes for him to put that little tree on my back.  I have never experienced any thing quite like that; except for child birth of course.

Keeping my tat clean and encouraging healing was easy.  I washed them off a couple times a day and applied lots and lots of original A & D ointment.  They scabbed up and healed within 5 days.  I loved the way they looked.  I felt a bit vampy!  Sexy! 

I know that I will ge another one some day.  Where, I don't know.  I love having them and do want to sport another one in the next couple of years.  Perhaps I should take my bite plate in with me for the teeth clenching.  I can take a squeeze ball in too for directing my attention to something besides the pain.  All I know is I think they are beautiful and express who I am.