I got my first (and only!) tattoo at age 51. I had planned to do it for my 50th birthday, but the right time did not present itself. I'm an oncology nurse at a clinic that treats patients with multiple myeloma. It is the leader in the treatment of this type of cancer and we have patients from all over the world come to us for treatment, typically staying in town for a month or more at a time. We get to know our patients and families very well and some even become good friends.
About three years ago, I became close to the wife of one of our patients. One day, I mentioned that I was going to get a tattoo for my 50th and the wife said she always wanted to get one also. From then on, we always talked about getting our tattoos at the same time.
I went to visit them in Daytona for the annual "Biketoberfest" motorcycle rally in 2006 and on the Saturday night of the event, her husband (my patient), took us to a tattoo studio. My artist drew out his interpretation and it was perfect. But as good as the preliminary drawing was, the tat turned out better than I could have imagined. I envisioned some intense cat eyes looking through purple flames but the artist really captured what I wanted to portray. At that time, my patient could not get a tattoo due to his treatment, so last week, I flew down to Daytona to surprise him for his birthday and to take him to get HIS tattoo! I was making good on a statement I made while I was being tattooed..."I'll get you for this!". (I have a very high pain tolerance but there were some times it was pretty ouchy being in that location.) So now, all three of us have our tattoos and the circumstances surrounding how we got them further seals our friendship.
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