i got inked

As you all know, I like tattoos. It all began in 1986 and I’m the perfect example of you can’t get just one! When I got the MBC diagnosis earlier this year, it truly derailed so many things and I went (and am still going through) a “to buy/spend or not to buy/spend” mentality. I was encouraged by a dear friend, RM, to go forward with a tattoo because, in her words, “If a tat is something that will make you happy why not do it?” And she’s right. RM made this her gift to me; and armed with that I went to my favourite tattoo artist: @gnometattoo. Lindsay booked me in today (I was her only appointment today and the shop was empty other than her and me). So, in true gaylie fashion, I couldn’t do just the one. The peony was a pared down version of the scar cover up tattoo I had thought I would have done (which was to include peonies, wild flowers, a dragonfly, a lady bug and a bee). I tried to come up with a different design but on the fifth return to a peony, I knew that was the one.

The polaris (north star) tattoo is my “mom” tattoo. Polaris is in the constellation ursa minor, which means ‘little bear’. Mom and I share a middle name, Ursulla, which also means ‘little bear’.

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My final tally of tattoos is at 15. Tattoo list in order of inking (though I don’t remember the years for a couple of them)—

1. Yellow rose (1986)
2. Winnie the Pooh (1996)
3. Tiny red heart (1996)
4. Anklet of ivy (1996)
5. Celtic knot and clover (1997)
6. Om shanti (in Sanskrit)
7. Chinese character: to be alive (2007)
8. “Breathe” (2010)
9. “Thrive” (2016)
10. Cherry blossoms
11. Feathers + half mandala (2018)
12. “Leave her wild” with sitka spruce & dogwood flower (2018)
13. Frangipani (2019)
14. Peony (2020)
15. Polaris/North Star (2020)

I am very happy. And isn’t that all that matters?