As of today I have eight tattoos, next week I’ll be adding to that. All my tattoos have meaning from the very first to the very last (whenever that maybe). My first one, on my right ankle, is of Figaro holding a baseball cap, now this one has a funny story to it. This one my mom got me and had to hold my leg down to finish it and the artist said I’d never get another. (Little did he know.) However that’s not the funny part, the funny part is that for my nineteenth birthday my mom asked me what I wanted and I told her either a cat or a tattoo of one. I really thought she’d go for the cat.

I didn’t get my second tattoo until I was twenty-eight it a triquetra, a Celtic Trinity knot, it’s on my lower back. I got this one for my Irish heritage.  Actually I have two triquetra’s the second in on my left wrist and it has more of a Polynesian feel to it. This one is one I share with my best friend.

My fourth is a bit difficult to explain its like a like a vine around my right ankle that wraps around and heads down toward my foot.

My fifth is the outline of a whale tail, it represents the time I spent with my Dad on Maui. He loved whale watching.

So the sixth tattoo actually sits on either side of the triquetra on my left wrist. It’s this design my grandfather came up with and later my dad used it as well. It’s their name “nick name” and I added the year they were born and the year they passed in.

Number seven truly starts my sleeve, it too is one my left arm, it’s a girl sitting under a tree writing, the wind is blowing and pages are flying up into the tree. The girl is me and there are thirteen pages for each of my nieces and nephews.

The last one number eight is of a quill and bottle of ink with ink blots around them. This too is on my left arm. I don’t think it needs much explanation.

Next week I’ll be adding quotes and passages from three of my favorite authors and something I wrote for my dad when he passed. These will finish my sleeve.