December 22, 2010

Since Mom's diagnosis I have been contemplating getting a tattoo as a reminder of her strength throughout her battle with cancer. In the last couple weeks the thought just kept popping back into my mind and I started seriously considering it. I mentioned the idea to my friend Stevie and then she continued to ask if I'd called about the appointment yet. Last week when Mom made the decision to stop treatment I told her that I wanted to get a tattoo in her honor. I then realized that it might be more meaningful to both of us if she got to see it.

Now to explain the significance of the dragonfly I chose. Mom enjoyed rubber stamping and making all sorts of cards and gifts with her stamps. Her favorite stamp just happened to be this dragonfly. I decided to do a little research on dragonflies and discovered that in Japan the dragonfly represents courage, strength, and happiness. After reading that, I knew that there were no better words that I could use to describe Mom.

I emailed Patty Colebank, at Patty's ArtSpot in Star City on Monday night. She got back to me Tuesday morning, telling me to call the store and tell the receptionist that I'd spoken with her. She was able to set me up with an appointment for next Tuesday, but also put me on the cancellation list. Within an hour I got a call back that there had been a cancellation and she could get me in that day! Stevie went with me and now there's a little dragonfly that I'll forever carry with me to remind me of the courageous, strong, and happy woman that my mother is.