SOME THINGS IN LIFE ARE, WELL, JUST PAINFUL

I kept my 8 year old niece a few days ago. And among the one million and one things she talked about during the course of the day, from the backseat of my car and on the way to town, she got on the subject of tattoos. I will not try to remember how or why the subject came up, but it did. She shared with me some people she knew who had tattoos, the subject matter, and where they were located. Do tell!

I wanted to use this opportunity to say something to her, something profound, something that would be forever etched in her mind, something that she would never forget and would possibly change her life entirely. So I dug deep into my closet of wisdom and came up with this:

“ You know that tattoos hurt, don‘t you.”

She asked me if they numbed or deadened your skin while getting one. I told her, “No”. I went on to give her a vivid picture of every stick of the needle, the pain that would make her eyes water, and the insertion of dye that would forever change the color of her skin. I told her that as pretty and colorful as they were in the beginning, over the years they fade and become ugly. (I had absolutely no idea what I was talking about, but was trying to recall something I had seen on television once). Nothing like a little scare tactic to make an impact. I was on a roll so I went on to tell her that if she ever decided to get one, to be prepared to do a lot of crying and screaming.

It worked! She told me that the only tattoo she would ever get would be the kind that sticks on and washes off.

I blew the smoke from my pistol, placed it back in the holster, and walked (or in my case, drove) away. We left this topic in the dust. She moved on to another one and we both moved on with our day. While sporting our new homemade bracelets, we went to hangout with the famous mouse at the famous pizza joint. ( I wonder if he has a tattoo?)

Maybe while in the process of “directing her path”, she directed mine.

“Avoid permanent reminders of pain and sorrow. When they come to stick, wash them away, hence, avoiding irreversible scarring.”