Tattoo

I have a tattoo on my upper left shoulder.  I got it when I was 18 years old.  It didn't really hurt that bad, and took about an hour to needle in.  The best I can explain the feeling of getting one is like having someone rub and dig into a pretty bad sunburn.  Actually, it just feels like a vibrating needle jabbing your skin... if you can imagine that.

I didn't give my tattoo a lot of thought.  In fact my Dad chose the tattoo and the place it was going to be tattoo'd out for me.  He informed me he was going to do something like it, and asked if I wanted to come along.  It seemed like my Dad and I were in conflict with each other for a good part of my teenage years, in a lot of ways getting a tattoo together was kind of our burying the hatchet moment.  Things have been great since then. It was a positive father-son moment, and the fact that I have a permanent reminder of that memory is just a bonus.



I hear a lot of people say they would never get a tattoo because they are permanent and they would either regret it or think it was "less cool" later on life.  I haven't experienced either of those thoughts.  I think everyone fantasizes with the idea of getting of tattoos, but its easy to fall back on the same old excuses to getting one.

As you can imagine, some people reacted negatively towards me getting a tattoo... but all is well.  My sisters started talking to me again after a few weeks and my Mom still loves my Dad.  I'm sure some of the people from high school who were sure I was a heathen (even before I was one) see pictures on facebook and stand confirmed in their judgments, and I have to wonder if perhaps it was the reason the Mission President in Iowa refused to shake my hand when I went up to greet him.        

But I love my tattoo, it is a part of me and will always be a part of me.  You can't take IT or the memories away from me.  Sharks are such graceful beautiful animals, seeing them in real life just makes you feel so small and meaningless in the grand cosmos of time.  They are the perfect representation of strength and efficiency.

"Strength, Perserverence, Endurance"  My Dad will key in to tell me what it represents.         

and I am glad to share something permanent with such an honest and person of integrity.