The Tale of my Tat

So I did a thing...(got a tattoo)

with one of my people...  (Aunt Lynne)

in a place that is near and dear to the women I have grown into (Maine)

I would say that the story of this art work started 4 years ago.  However in hindsight, four years ago was just the start of the hardest journey I have yet to endured in finding out what I am really made of.  I think the story of this image started long before I had the ability to hold on to memories of the shore. 

I was lucky to be the oldest grandchild, because I got to have my Nana and Grumps all to my very self.  I got to enjoy them when they themselves were still young.  I wrapped them around my little finger and they indulged me.  I spent so much of my childhood on the cold shores of Maine.  Sand was always in my hair, and the sun painted my skin.  My Nana taught me her love for the ocean and all the treasures we could find washed up upon the shores.  Sea glass, snails, smooth black rocks, shells... and our favorite find was the sand dollar.  She would walk us down to the break water, where the sand would suck your feet right up past your ankles, and we would scan the water for them in between the waves.

She would find a special place for me to preserve them after we dried them out in the sunshine.  My Nana was also very good at teaching me the art of preserving a memory.  She made me keep a journal of our times spent together.  Grumps would take the photos.  She was always finding me souvenirs on all of our adventures.  Ticket stubs, notes scribbled on receipts... she showed me the art of being  nostalgic.

Recently she passed away, and I found myself back in her hometown.  The last time I had seen her had been on Macey and mines epic journey to say goodbye to my grandfather.  Four years ago I pulled out of their driveway for the last time.  Four years ago, they were still both alive and together.  Just like I was lucky to be their first, I was lucky to have that goodbye.  I was lucky to have had my little girl with me to keep me strong. There is beauty in a goodbye when it is given in enormous love and gratitude!

On that same journey four years ago, my Aunt took me and Macey to the beach.  My Aunt hates the sand, and only goes to the beach a handful of times a year. ( The beach is only a 20 minute drive from her home, so it just goes to show that someone life is another mans dream!)  There on the shore we found a beautiful starfish.  It was alive, and had all of its arms, and it moved so fast.  In all my many trips the the beach, I had never marveled such a beauty.  In the middle of the vast amount of chaos present in my personal life at the time, that starfish felt like a sign of something much bigger than me.  It was my life moment!  Everything was going to be okay! No matter what was happening there on the shores in Maine, or in our home in Indiana.  My faith would be my anchor. Some journey's we have to take on our own, no matter whom we are tethered to.  And I know now, that this was okay, and maybe even necessary so we can grow as individuals, and also grow stronger together.

I now carry my little world inked upon my left shoulder.  It feels as if it has always been there.  I look at it and and see so much symbolism.  The three chains, my religion; the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.  The pearls are the kids whom make my world!  The cracked anchor is a little bit of everything; me, my faith, our marriage.  I actually wish the anchor would have turned out better... but I even find irony in that as some of the bigger things in life are not what you had expected.  Sometimes you need a crack to let the light in, so you can see things that you never noticed or appreciated before.

I know that not everyone is a fan of what I did, but as I round the bend of life and see that my time is most likely halfway up...I'm going to live life and do things for me.  Life is an adventure, my Nana taught me that, and you can never have too many sea shells and sand dollars. 

 And most importantly there is beauty everywhere, there is love everywhere, you just have to have open eyes and an open mind to find it!