One of the philosophies I have embraced pertaining to tattoos is that it is unwise to get a tattoo without putting much thought into it first. Tattoos are supposed to be for life. Because of this, I can appreciate the laws that enforce a person to be of eighteen years of age to get a tattoo. A person's interests and values change with maturity. In many cases, what a person though was cool or awesome as a teenager will not be the same as when he or she becomes an adult.
So when my seventeen year old daughter was packing to leave for her student exchange trip to Spain, she let it slip that she was going to get a tattoo. Of course my immediate response was, “um...no you’re not”.
She insisted that in Spain she only had to be sixteen years old and that half of the girls going on this trip were getting tattoos. I then asked her what tattoo she wanted to get. She had replied that she did not know yet. After giving her my speech on the importance of putting some thought into your tattoo, I ended the conversation with that motherly look of authority I had been practicing for seventeen years and said, “NO”.
The night before my daughter was scheduled to leave, she informed me that the teacher in charge had squashed any idea of them getting a tattoo. Apparently there would be hell to pay if any of them got a tattoo on this trip. The next day, my beautiful daughter boarded the plane to Spain. It would be three weeks before I would see her again.
Three weeks later, I was thrilled and relieved to have my daughter home safely. Once we got to the house she unpacked and came walking barefoot into the kitchen. My eyes immediately went to her ankle.
“What is that?” I asked.
“A tattoo” she replied.
I could see it was a word written in scribe. I asked what it said.
“Familia. Family” she answered.
I have to admit, being a writer, I was intrigued. “Why did you chose to have the word Family as your tattoo?” I asked.
She replied, “Because while I was gone, one of the things I came to understand is that there is nothing more important than your family”. I hugged my daughter and through a few tears, told her it was a beautiful tattoo and I was happy to have her home.
SHOUT OUT: Symarah is a university student and does not have a personal business to give a shout out to. Therefore, Symarah would like her shout out to go to The Edmonton Humane Society to remind people of the importance of adopting an animal that needs a furever home.
#family #tattoos #daughters #mothers #parenting
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