Tornado Tattoos

When I was growing up the only people I came across who had tattoos were people in the military and people who rode motorcycles. That remained my limited reality until “tramp stamps” (tattoos on the lower backs of young women - particularly evident in low-rise jeans and crop tops popular in the late 90's) started surfacing. Eventually, in 2003, Nick Lachey appeared on TV with his bride, Jessica Simpson, with a tattoo that banded around his bicep.

Now, tattoos are everywhere and on all sorts of body parts visible, and I'm sure hidden under clothing.

Two years ago I got my first and second tattoos. Since then I have gotten a third. Mine, as I’m sure are everyone’s, are meaningful to me. One I use as a labyrinth, and I trace it on my wrist with my finger to meditate and breathe. One is a word that reminds me to calm down and reflect on things I’m grateful for, especially when I'm feeling sorry for myself. My most recent is a park bench. I love a park bench. Park benches don’t randomly appear. They are placed with intention. When I see a bench, even if I’m driving by it reminds me to stop and slow down mentally, if not always physically. It reminds me to breathe and to be more gentle with myself.

Now so many of my friends and family members have tattoos. They include fish, honeybees, butterflies, dandelions blowing off the stem, semicolons, deltas, angels and hearts. This summer I got to see a friend I have not seen since my wedding in 1996. She had a tornado on the back of her neck.  We spent two days together, in a group of dear, long-time, friends. On my final morning in town, while stopped at a stoplight on our way to breakfast, I asked her about her tattoo.

She looked right at me and said, “Twenty-three years ago you said something to me.”

I stopped breathing, for a good three seconds, while horror and the word “what??!!” flashed through my mind.

She continued, “Twenty-three years ago you said, ‘You are the most intense person I have ever met.’ You said it as a statement without a hint of malice."

She went onto say, "Kansas is my home. We get tornadoes there. But, it also makes me remember that some people may find me intense and overwhelming. Also, it helps me prioritize because if a tornado actually came through my life, I would be able to let go of some of these little things that take up a lot of my time and focus on what is truly important in my life.”

Wow.