Laurianne's Hope

Friday, June 26, 2009

Inked

Yesterday was a day full of excitement. Did you hear the news? I'm sure everyone did. Yes, folks, it is really true....

My dad got a tattoo! His first tattoo!

After my sister died, my dad had decided he wanted this. I was against it at first, because it was right after my sister died, and I have heard that in times of tragedy people do things they may regret. Plus, my dad is a clean-cut, old-fashioned kind of guy. He doesn't like long hair or earrings on men. When my sister had a port installed to help with administering her cancer medication, I remember her saying, "I got three tattoos and Mommy and Daddy weren't even mad at me!" because they tattooed three dots on her chest for the port. And when my brother got tattooed, I vaguely recall neither of my parents were too happy about it. So, I think Laurianne would have agreed with me that my dad didn't really like tattoos.

My mom initially wasn't happy at all that my dad wanted to ink something on his arm. But almost a year after Laurianne passed away, she ended up going into surgery, and waking up looking at the ceiling, glad she was alive. And she said she was only going to tell him once, but if he wanted his tattoo, he could go ahead and get it, because life was too short to argue about such things. And still my dad faltered. He respects my mom, and didn't want to upset her. But the other day, after some discussion to make sure she was ok with it, I'm sure, he started talking to my brother about taking some action.

But the other day, my brother was over and he said that my dad was going to meet him yesterday to "talk about guy stuff". And I said, "Oh, you are going to look at tattoos." I think he was a little surprised that it wasn't a big secret, but he said, "Yeah." And so my dad left at 1 p.m. that afternoon. My brother called later about some celebrity stuff going on, to see if my mom had heard the news. And we found out that beyond looking, they decided to get the tattoo done.

My dad came home excited, showing off his newly wrapped brand on his arm. I took a picture. When he removed the saran wrap, I took another picture. Now, almost four years later, my dad is finally inked. And it wasn't a hasty, impulsive decision.

My dads tattoo in memory of my sister.

We can only hope he won't want a motorcycle again.

****

Every year my family takes walks in the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life in memory of my sister, Laurianne. This year, I would like to raise $2500 in donations and walk 25 miles in her memory. To donate, please visit: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/lyndas_page


Lung Cancer AwarenessPosted by Lynda :: 1:00 PM :: 1 people are more aware
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