Tattoos

We're all so proud on our side of the family tree.....our niece got her first tattoo! My husband's side of the family is good-sized, but of everyone in the family it's just Dan and I, all our kiddos and their wives/husbands/significant others that have tattoos. Now our niece has joined our league. It's amazing the amount of people who look down on those who display art on their bodies. They look at people who have tattoos like they are the boogie man, those who commit murder and mayhem, bad bikers, and the list goes on. As for myself, I've wanted a tattoo ever since I was 17 and attending college in California. I wanted a bracelet and ring of tattooed flowers. Being a VERY poor art student, that tattoo never happened. The desire to get a tattoo never left me, but it wasn't until my daughter was murdered in 2004 that that urge to permanently place art on my body became so important. In my mind, and please note, this was for me and only me, I decided that if Amanda was able to suffer through those most horrifying moments than I could buck up, be brave, and do something that I've always wanted to do, and not worry later on down the road why I hadn't done something to complete me. Tattoos are a part of what completes me.....I'm not the boogie man, a murderer, or the bad guy.....I'm just Anne, someone who adores her husband, kids, family and friends.....I'm someone who loves art, and proudly displays it on my body. Back to Amanda, a couple of her sisters and her dad got memorial tattoos in her honor, what a selfless act on all their parts. Whatever the reason a person gets a tattoo is incredibly special. Ask someone what their tattoo represents, and I think you would be quite surprised that there is a special meaning behind it. So to my niece, welcome to the world of art, enjoy it's beauty, and proudly display it!