Friends
Name: Melissa
Age: 26
Date: 1/13/08
Date: 1/13/08
Describe the tattoo which you are most proud of (ex. color, shape, style, etc.):
It is the Chinese character for friend.
What does it signify?
It all started by turning 18, I wasn't one of those girls who broke the rules, in fact I never really went against the rules but in May of 2002 I was graduating high school in a few days. My best friends and I were eager at the prospect of finally getting out of high school and terrified of facing life without each other. We'd been friends since we were in early elementary school. We had each others back the whole way through middle school and high school. We were best friends, comrades, confidants, and everything else a best friend should be. But soon college and life would break us up so we decided to do something completely uncharacteristic of all of us, something that would bond us, and assure that we'd never forget how much our friendship did and would always mean to us, we got matching tattoos.
Why did you choose to tattoo?
For me the motive was doing something no one ever thought I'd do. I was tired of the mold I'd made myself in high school and this was my way of showing everyone they didn't know me as much as they thought.
I think I brought it up on a Tuesday in social class and we didn't really even think much more about it. We wanted to signify how important our friendship was and by Saturday we had the tattoos. It's a Chinese symbol for friend and we all have the tattoo in the same place our left ankle.
We didn't tell our parents,I suppose for one of us it was way to rebel against her ultra conservative parents, to make them see she was in fact an adult who could make her own choices. I suppose we all had other motives for the tattoo beyond the initial permanent symbol of our friendship.
How do you feel as a woman with a tattoos?
In the end I got the shock factor I was looking for from my classmates and when the back lash settled from the parents none of us regretted it. I wish I could say we were all friends and all as close as we used to be. That some how the tattoo really would be our symbol to stay friends for always, but life has other plans. But I don't regret getting the tattoo it still symbolizes a very important time in my life and reminds me of some great people, some great friends, and I wouldn't want to change anything about that.