I had realized that I wanted to get one to commemorate the passing of my grandma last month while I was at her funeral. I just had to decide what and where I wanted to get it.
My grandma loved flowers, butterflies, gardening and the outdoors so I wanted to incorporate that theme into it some how. I started looking up butterfly tattoos and nothing really stood out. I have always been curious about how different people or religions deal with the passing of a loved one. My grandma was the first person who has been close to me that I have lost. It has been very confusing for me about how I should feel or act. As I have been dealing with this emptiness I have kept in mind different views and thoughts from authors I love to read like Eckhart Tolle and also from religions like Sikhism, who believe that death is not a sad occasion but as a time to celebrate and remember the person who has passed on. That reminded me very much of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) which is a holiday in which, mostly Latinos, celebrate the death of loved ones by having parties and visiting their graves, giving them gifts that include food and also sugar skulls which are decorated skulls that can be eaten. I have always thought that that tradition was very ego less and brave.
So there I had it, I would get a tattoo remembering my grandma using a sugar skull with butterfly wings, which she loved. I would also incorporate flowers to represent her 3 children and 3 grandchildren. Now I needed to find an artist.
We went to one place that we had heard very good reviews on, unfortunately, I was not happy or comfortable with the service at all. My husband had had a guy come into his work months before and he had given him his card, we decided to go in and feel him out.
His name is Bobby and he works at Inland Empire Tattoo in Redlands. We went in there and I gave him some drawings and pictures of what I had in mind. He told us to come back in a week and he would have something drawn up. I was so nervous that I would not like his concept that I was even having nightmares about it! So the next Thursday rolls around and he shows me his sketch and it is exactly what I had in mind. It was so beautiful and perfect, I couldn't wait to have it etched into my skin forever and ever!
So I did. It took about 3 hours and hurt pretty freaking badly...a lot worse than my first one on my wrist! But it's healing now and looking great. I know my grandma would have thought it was really pretty. Every time I look at it it will always remind me of her and how much she impacted my life and what an amazing person she was!
Here is my tat. this was like a few hours after I got it done...still bloody and all. I'll put up more when she's healed!
