Right after I got it done. This tattoo was definitely a life altering experience.
Growing up, I was very close to my grandmother. She was like my own mother. She took care of me, was my counseling, my savior on the battleground that was my parent’s divorce…my everything and my best friend all in one. When I was 15, my grandmother developed pancreatic cancer and passed away. It rocked my world and turned everything upside down. I didn’t know who i was or why I was here after she was gone. My purpose was gone.
It’s been 5 years since she’s passed, and I’ve had this drawn up since the one year mark of her death. I knew as soon as I had it drawn, I was going to get it tattooed on me. The triquetra is the symbol of balance, remembrance, and endless cycle. She lived, she died, and her memory lives on. I chose purple because it is not only the cancer awareness color, but the light purple is pancreatic cancer awareness. Her and I had a thing for ladybugs, and collected them, as I told her at a young age, “Gramma, you remind me of the ladybug from James and the Giant Peach.” There are 3 Forget-Me-Nots on the bottom (her favorite shade of blue) and 6 spots on the ladybug, for her birth year (1936). I chose my right foot, because after all of the bad choices I made following her death, I wanted her to be my guiding power, reminding me to keep walking in the right direction in life.
My tattoo hurt alot. But on March 26, 2012 (what would have been her 76th birthday) I gritted my teeth and sat through it, letting go of all of the last bit of pent up pain I had over her loss. I still miss her more everyday, but now I am comforted in knowing i always have a part of her with me, no matter where my life journey takes me. <3
Done by JP at Big Deluxe Tattoo in Salt Lake City, Utah.
