Monday, March 24th, 2008

Family Tattoo

I finally have a story worth blogging about....Our family tattoo. Why a family tattoo you might be thinking? Well, here's the story...

My Grandpa passed away last year, the day after Easter. It has been a very difficult year for all of us. We have spent many days watching old videos, sharing stories, crying and laughing. It would be too hard for me to put into words about what my Grandpa meant to all of us. What I can say is that he was truely one-of-a kind! If any of you had the opportunity to have met him, you know exactly what I mean.

One day last fall we were on my Aunt Cathy's porch talking about our Dad/Grandpa. I really do not have any idea of how the tattoo conversation started, but it did. At first we thought about getting tattoos that represented all of the things my Granpa loved in life (all things that made us think of him instantly). Funny as some of them may sound, they were...a cardinal, a deer, a shamrock, a dime, a Pepsi, and a dilly bar. We were all laughing, thinking about whichever one of us would get the dilly bar because it would look like s#@* on a stick. Anyhow, we changed our mind and decided we would all get the same tattoo...a dime. We talked to Kevin (our tattoo artist) about our idea. He said that with as small as we were wanting these tattoos to be, you would not be able to see any detail in the dime. He suggested a more simple design. That is when we came up with the Celtic Shamrock.

To us this Celtic Shamrock tattoo represnted two things. First, it represented our Dad/Grandpa's Irish heritage and all of the memories of him singing Irish music to us. St. Patrick's Day was always a fun time for our family. Secondly, the celtic knot represented the unity of our family. It really ened up being the prefect tattoo.

We had the tattoos done this past weekend, which was Easter weekend. It was also the last weekend that we were able to spend with our Dad/Grandpa last year. The day at the tattoo shop was one I will never forget (for many reasons other than the pain). I was very special to me and to my family to have done this. I truely have the best family in the world.

The only thing left to say is... "We Love you like a brother"