Let's talk about tattoos!

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I'm a big fan of them and find myself perusing through pictures of tattoo designs all the time and trying to get new ideas for things I might like. They fascinate me. Every one has it's own story and has a unique meaning to the owner. I'm much more partial to ones that have an actual deeper meaning than getting one as a gimmick of course, but hey, it's your body, do what you want.

I only have one personally, I'll get in to what that is in a second, but have been giving serious thought to getting a half or three quarter sleeve on my right arm. I've got a few ideas of things that I'd like to incorporate but am still hashing out ideas in my head for what I'd like before I have someone design in for me. My mom is thrilled about it. All of the sarcasm possible in the world went in to that sentence.

So let's hear about your tats. What do you have and why did you get it? Any tattoo regrets? Not a tattoo fan or don't have any? That's okay too, tell us why you don't like them or what you'd consider getting if you're still a blank canvas.

I'll start.

I've got one tattoo which is located on my right rib cage. It's a memorial for a very good friend that I lost in college. Here's the story of how my tattoo came to be:

I played rugby in college and the person my tattoo is for was a teammate of mine. He was number 7 on our team. The day that he passed away we were warming up for an intramural basketball game at a gym on campus when he collapsed and had a series of heart attacks at which time we rushed him to the hospital and he passed away. I had to tell you that part though to get to the next part.

I always knew that I wanted to get a tattoo to remember Scott but I had a really hard time deciding on a design. I had a general idea of what I wanted and knew that I wanted his number included but couldn't quite put my finger on how it should look.

Two years had passed since his death. I was working out at the rec center on campus and I saw a guy walk by with a tattoo of a 7 on his left calf. It was exactly what I wanted. So I stalked the guy in the gym for the next 20 minutes creepily trying to get a better look at the design. Eventually I approached him and asked him about it. I told him the story of Scott collapsing that day 2 years ago and as I started to tell him about why I was interested in his tattoo he stopped me. He was at the gym the day Scott passed away. He saw the whole thing happen and had kept us in his thoughts over the years and even come to a few of our rugby matches in support of us after that day.

We chatted for a while and he agreed to let me take a photo of the design and encouraged me to incorporate it into my own if I wanted. On May 22, 2005, which would have been Scott's 21st birthday and just 3 weeks after running in to that guy, I got my tattoo. It was the exact same 7 that I saw on that guys leg with the letters S and G, Scott's initials of course, flanked on either side. I loved it immediately and I knew that I had done exactly what I wanted to honor my friend.

About 2 weeks after I got my tattoo done, that guy walked in to the restaurant I worked at. I had the chance to show him what I had gotten and thank him for allowing me to incorporate his design in to my tattoo. He was thrilled to see it and we shared a true moment of mutual respect. I had never seen him before that day in the gym and I've never seen him since.