Tattoo

I've always known that I wanted a tattoo. I just needed time to think of something original that really meant something to me. The original idea came to me while I was pregnant with Nikolas: why not get his name tattooed on me? I presented this idea to Matthew as something that we could both do.

Then the next idea came to me: that I'd like his name translated into Thai, since he was conceived in Thailand, and our trip there really made me fall in love with that part of the world. We will be back there one day.

Matt's Dad has old business contacts here in Edmonton that he used to work with on projects in Thailand. So, we met with a nice Thai gentelman and his wife for brunch one Sunday, and asked him to translate Nikolas' name for us. That was the easy part.

Next came scouring the 'net for art ideas for the tattoo. The final design came from a combination of two different designs that I really liked. Incorporating the lotus flower really made sense for me. Not only is it beautiful, but there is so much symboism behind it. Lotus flowers root at the bottom of muddy, dirty ponds, but rise above the surface of the water to display an object of beauty. For me, it represents the hardships I've had to deal with throughout my life and my ability to rise above everything and emerge as the person I am today.

With my husband's help, we came up with the design (he likes to take all the credit). He was able to put on paper exactly what I had in mind. So, I took the plunge and took the design to a friend of my brother in law, who is a tattoo artist. 4 extremely painful hours later, I had this beautiful design permanently etched onto my back.

Every time I see my tattoo, I think of how much love I have for my son and how much I went through to be in a place where I felt ready to start a family.