How do you honor someone you never want to forget?
There's a million answers to that question. One of the ways Gina and I decided to honor Rory last week (on Gina's birthday) was with tattoos. For years I've said I'd get one if anything ever happened to him. I even told Rory about it during one of his healthier times.
Rory, Gina and I had a handful of conversations about tattoos over for years. We all wanted to get one someday. Our last conversation together on the topic was the deciding factor for Gina's tattoo. Rory told us that if he got one he'd have the word "winter" tattooed across his back. The main reference was to the Tori Amos' song (with the same title). Gina decided to do the same tattoo on the front right side of her waistline. While being fairly simple, it says so much at the same time.
As I had assumed for years, my tattoo was of the batman symbol. After much debate, I had it done on the top of my left foot. It's the very first thing I think of when Rory comes to mind. It was always how I had envisioned paying tribute to him if this day ever came.
In a way it almost seems morbid to me to have planned this out, in part, before his death. The truth is that I think it was a coping mechanism for us and in the end I'm glad Rory knew about it.
I'm sharing this now basically so it's out there. I don't want it feeling like it's something we are hiding. Some people are going to think it is a really great thing and others will not. Simply put, it's something we did for ourselves and we are both happy with the decision regardless.
I will admit though, having one takes a little getting use to.
