I Did It for Me...Part II

fureverywhere

fureverywhere

beloved friend who will always be with us in spiri
Location
Northern NJ, USA
Really as seniors if you are 50 or 80...90...yeah we aren't exactly looking at a bright new future realistically. I posted recently about two new tattoo's. My beautiful baby boy and a cartoon cat representing any number of cats. I am proud of them. If I look In the mirror, lift my sleeve mid-day and they make me smile ear to ear.

The cat tat is visible with my sleeve pushed up like always. So many compliments and where did I get it done for that one. But really as a senior...if you can scrounge the pennies together. A tat, a piercing, a filler or Botox. If you can smile at it every morning in the mirror go for it. I am serious.
 

I'm with you Fur. Got my first tat at age 63 - it's a "Sailor Jerry" design hula girl. Just had my second one done for my 70th birthday - it's a "Sailor Jerry" design mermaid. Each is about 8 inches or so on upper arms. Short sleeve shirt covers them.

My other "body art" is a long scar down the middle of my chest from my open heart surgery a couple of years ago.

The tats make me smile, the scar not so much.
 
Really, I can't quite pin it down but the tattoos have helped me into a new life chapter. For those who are body artless that will make no sense. But I'm seriously working out to get rid of the dreaded batwing upper arms. I want muscles yo...Then there are the compliments. One lady who you know only shops at Whole Foods..." Oh I love that cat" and we talk about the meaning of her various tats.

Then you go downtown and Walgreen's. A picture of the Callie tat printed for snail mail. The young man finds my picture and grins broadly " That is a GREAT tattoo", on this old lady? Dahhhm...
 

fureverywhere said:
Really, I can't quite pin it down but the tattoos have helped me into a new life chapter. For those who are body artless that will make no sense. {snip}
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That's it! "A new life chapter". As a retired CPA who was VP of accounting for a very conservative, very large firm, I never ever thought about having one. Then I retired. Bought the Harley I had always wanted. Got the Hula Girl tat. It was a new life chapter. And I certainly admire you for starting your workout routine.
 
But at this age tattoos get wrinkly. For those who love them it's great. But for me it would be llike having wrinkly clothes that you can't take off.
 
If it hadn't been a freebie, I could never have afforded my dragon tattoo on my derrière. Way above my pay grade for this level of delicate, meticulous Asian artistry. Sizable also. It speaks to the challenges I have overcome, the hidden beauty in us all. Ambitious for a first tat, but worth it.
 
Shali, after I get the out of print dog book I'm thinking of...maybe oh a few more, hook me up with a freebie darlin':cool:

But yes another life chapter. I'm coming to terms with hubby's condition and that I have to be stronger than I ever have in my life. If the tat's make me smile PLUS make me feel all manly and badass all the better. Plus the weight lifting and hamster wheel. The treadmill is relaxing for me. Think of all the crap and run my whiskers off.
 
fureverywhere said:
Shali, after I get the out of print dog book I'm thinking of...maybe oh a few more, hook me up with a freebie darlin':cool:

But yes another life chapter. I'm coming to terms with hubby's condition and that I have to be stronger than I ever have in my life. If the tat's make me smile PLUS make me feel all manly and badass all the better. Plus the weight lifting and hamster wheel. The treadmill is relaxing for me. Think of all the crap and run my whiskers off.
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Yep, in the end it all comes down to whatever gets you through the night.
 
I had a nose piercing but the guy put it in the wrong place and it got irritated constantly and I had to take it out. I like how they look when put in the right place though. Tats are nice, too. Are they very painful?
 
Aw don't feel bad Ruthanne. Best buddy had abs to envy and got a belly button piercing. He finally had to let it heal over, so many infections. It's funny that he got one tattoo when he was a teen. Same time I did, but he didn't get any more. Now thirty years later I have a bunch of tats but nothing pierced except one teeny hole in each ear. His ears have more piercings than I can count.

It sounds goofy if you haven't experienced both. But for me I actually have a healthy fear of needles. Blood work and donations and I really can't look until they're done. But getting a tattoo is different. It's still using a needle but it's part of a machine that moves it so fast you don't feel it poking your skin. Mostly it just feels like someone rubbing say a paper clip over and over the surface. It really doesn't hurt. It's annoying and hard to sit still for a few hours...but no it doesn't really hurt.
 
fureverywhere said:
Really as seniors if you are 50 or 80...90...yeah we aren't exactly looking at a bright new future realistically. I posted recently about two new tattoo's. My beautiful baby boy and a cartoon cat representing any number of cats. I am proud of them. If I look In the mirror, lift my sleeve mid-day and they make me smile ear to ear.

The cat tat is visible with my sleeve pushed up like always. So many compliments and where did I get it done for that one. But really as a senior...if you can scrounge the pennies together. A tat, a piercing, a filler or Botox. If you can smile at it every morning in the mirror go for it. I am serious.
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I absolutely agree.. At our ages, we have "done" for everyone and everything else but ourselves.. I figure if now isn't the time to do something just for me... when is?
 
Something amusing I just thought of. I am fifty four. I have lived a life for fifty four very long years. My Dad is 94. Still independent and outspoken. I'm already practicing how so say " Oh no of course not, but they make these temporary ones look so realistic nowadays...". Save myself some snarky comments.

I got the first as a teen and he didn't see it for two or three years. That would be an interesting anonymous survey among our family members. Without giving names or identifying info, the cousins could all describe any piercings or body art. Half the family is arch conservative and the rest of us free thinking. I'm sure there would be some interesting stories there.
 
Nose piercings can be lovely...I've never wanted to bring attention to my nose, not my best feature...but gems or delicate rings can be so pretty.
 

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