Peyton wanted a tattoo. He was an avid hunter and wanted the Browning symbol on his side. (Browning is a brand of hunting clothes, etc.) It was fine with me as long as it wasn’t in a prominent place. Before he turned 16 I called around to several places to see if they would do it. I only found one place that would give a 16 yr old, with parental consent a tattoo. I decided if they were the only ones that would do it, we didn’t want them. Peyton was disappointed.
The day after the funeral, Tom got a tattoo. It is the same design Peyton wanted. I remember that day like it was yesterday. We had three of Peyton’s best friends with us. We went to the western store where one of them bought a new cowboy hat. Then we met two other friends at the tattoo parlor. Amanda was one of them. We are all standing there watching Tom get his tattoo and her mom calls. I hear Amanda say, “I’m at the tattoo parlor.” I’m sure those are words her mother never expected to hear her say. LOL
As you can see, Tom got two of them, one to represent him and the other to represent Peyton. I used to watch the show “Miami Ink”. People would come in and get portraits of their deceased loved ones tattooed on themselves. I always thought that was kind of creepy……..until now. I’m not getting one, I just don’t think that it’s weird anymore. Funny how your opinion can change when you are in different shoes. Here are pictures of other tattoos kids have gotten since Peyton has been gone. I find it ironic they have all gotten old enough to get them, while Peyton is forever 16.
The first has Peyton’s initials above the bird’s wing (the other initials are her grandfather’s). The second is a heart with his name and date of his home going. The fact that they would permanently memorialize him on their bodies humbles me.
Thanks for reading :)
2 comments:
You're right about opinions changing when we're exposed to situations we thought we'd never be in. The ONE thing that Paul said he'd disown our sons over was a tatoo! He was pretty laid back about all other issues for some reason, the tatoo was one that really pushed his buttons. Then our first son, Joshua, joined the Marine Corp. The old conversation was raised again about dad's opinion on the tatoo. Well, the call came just before Joshua had completed his four year tour. Dad, I got a tatoo. Disappointment and anger filled Paul's face. Then, Joshua revealed that he'd gotten our son Aaron's initials engraved on his left shoulder. Later when Jordan joined the Marines he got the exact same tatoo on his right shoulder. They like to think that they carry their little brother on their shoulders. Dad's changed his mind at least about those two tatoos. I loved Tom's!
I know exactly what you mean about opinions changing. Blake had a tattoo and so does his son Josh. My sister got one after Blake died. Blake's wife got a fish on her shoulder with Blake's name under it. My sister got the word grandmother in Chinese put on her back. I told her it probably didn't say that for real. I loved teasing her about hers. It was fun for them. I didn't get one.
I like Tom's.
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