28 Nov My Tattoo Story / Remembering My Mom

I’m the kind of person who overthinks everything I do, so getting a tattoo required a lot thinking and research. Yes, I did say research; let me just say that Pinterest has great tattoo tags for inspiration.

In the span of a year, my family lost a close friend to leukemia and both my mom and my aunt got diagnosed with breast cancer. That’s when I knew that I wanted a tattoo relating to this, so I spent hours on Pinterest trying to find a quote that I liked enough to get on my body permanently. My mom had also decided that once she finished her treatments, she would get a matching tattoo, so we both had to agree on one. After looking at hundreds of quotes, we found Today is a gift and both knew that this was it. I booked an appointment with Kris Hearn, an artist in Aurora, in May of 2013 and had I asked for the font to be organic and freehanded. I loved the sketch that he had made and 15 minutes later it was done! I didn’t hurt that much but it also wasn’t a very complex tattoo. My mom passed away before she could get it herself, but I don’t regret the tattoo at all. Every day I’m reminded not to take anything for granted because you don’t know what can happen.

After my mom passed away, I knew that I wanted to get a tattoo in memory of her. I’ve always loved rose tattoos and rib tattoos, so I combined them both together! As much as I loved the idea, I didn’t find that to be personal enough for it to be dedicated to my mom.

Then, I started noticing the ladybugs… After my mom passed away, a high school teacher of mine (who also lost her mom to breast cancer when she was in university) gave me a brooch of a ladybug and in a card she wrote that in her culture, they believe that ladybugs represent people who have passed away and come to visit us. I read this a little less than a week after my mom passed away, and I realized that there had been a ladybug in the washroom that my sister and I shared when I still lived at home. I’m not religious at all, but “they” (whoever that is) say that the soul stays on the earth for 3 days, then goes to Heaven; that one ladybug had stayed in our washroom for 3 days after she passed away. Later on, when we put her ashes in the mausoleum, we had a family dinner, and there was a ladybug flying around the dining room. There was also a ladybug in the room where we opened our presents during both Christmases after she passed away, and for a couple of days in my sister’s room when she got really sick. That’s when I started associating ladybugs with my mom. I was in my room one morning and kinda talking to her, and I asked for a sign. Then, I went to take a shower, and the on the window screen there was a ladybug. I know that all of this could be a coincidence, but the possibility of her looking down on me really comforts me.

So I had finally decided what I wanted for my tattoo: roses with a ladybug on one of the leaves. I like black and white tattoos, so I just wanted the roses to be outlines with small details on the edge of the petals so there was still some detail. I also wanted the ladybug to be red so it would stand out. This time I wanted to choose an artist that I really liked since it has so much meaning to me. I started researching artists at Chronic Ink Tattoos and fell in love with Miss Lee‘s work. I went into the shop in April of 2014 and they usually recommend the artist that they think best suits your tattoo, and they actually gave me Miss Lee! I was so happy, but since she’s very busy, I could only get an appointment in August. That summer I was thinking of going to France, so I had to reschedule to March of this year… So it was almost a year from the time that I booked it but it was totally worth it. Miss Lee was so awesome, she understood exactly what I wanted and recommended some shading on the edge of the flowers so it would stand out a little more. The tattoo took 3 painful hours, but I love how it turned out and don’t regret it at all.

Then, one day, I was scrolling through my Instagram when I saw a post asking for people to send an email if they wanted to do a photoshoot showcasing their tattoo and telling the story behind it. This photographer is the amazing Vai Yu Law. We did a shoot at the beginning of May at my apartment; I felt very comfortable with her and she was great at giving me directions. When she sent me the pictures, I was in awe of how amazing they turned out!

Tattoos are a huge commitment, but I’ve gone through so many things that have affected my life forever, so I know that will never regret getting these two tattoos.

*All of the pictures in this post are from the Photoshoot with Vai*