On Saturday, I finally decided (after 4 years of going back and forth on pros and cons) to get my first tattoo! I got it done at Chameleon, in Harvard Square, and overall it was a really great experience. (spoiler alert: it didn't hurt nearly as much as I expected it to.)

First things first: the pain. It's not really like anything I've ever felt, but I think the best way I can describe it is that it kind of feels like getting one of those vaccinations that leave a little bubble beneath your skin - the sharp little pain from the needle coupled with the burning sensation of the actual vaccination. So that, but like, a lot of times. And for longer. (I guess if you're super queasy about shots you might not want to get a tattoo? But it really wasn't a big deal, pain-wise.) Also, the after-care is super simple and so far, so good - it seems to be healing nicely and there's a tiny bit of scab on top of the tattoo but there isn't any itching or discomfort whatsoever. My long sleeves haven't been bothering it at all when they rub against it, so that's good too. (All in all I'm not very good to my hands/arms in general, so I'm actually pretty surprised that everything looks fine.)

tattoo! Sorry about the gunk around the tattoo - I think it's dried blood? In any case, it washed off

Now I guess I should explain it: it's a super simple script tattoo on my inner left wrist that says cxv in my cursive handwriting. The text itself is roman numerals for 115, which stands for January 15th, the date my (maternal) grandmother passed away and also my sister's birthday. I chose to have it done in roman numerals instead of straight up numbers because 1) aesthetics and 2) I've always been a huge mythology nut. And it's on my left wrist, not my right, because of the whole "left ring finger leads to your heart" or whatever (that's why you wear your wedding ring on your left hand!). Did I mention I'm into superstitions and mythology?

I wanted this to be my first tattoo because it's small (just in case the pain was awful) and I wanted to pay my respects to my grandma. She was an incredibly strong woman who not only lived through the second world war but also all the awfulness that followed it in Communist China - as a city-dweller married to a "wealthy" man, she was disrespected, labeled as "black" (as opposed to "red" citizens, who were upstanding), and had to deal with incredible adversity laid before her by her own government.

And yet despite that adversity she was one of the kindest and most enthusiastic people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. After I was born, she started to learn English (at 60 years old!) simply because I couldn't speak Chinese and so we couldn't communicate. Although I later learned Chinese at 7 years old, she met a bunch of friends through learning English and was an avid traveler with them and with my family. She loved trying to get me to teach her English (and I shrugged her off more times than I care to admit, because I was a young pre-teen girl who, unfortunately and selfishly, didn't have time for her grandma), she loved spending time with her family, and she loved feeding us (my favorite thing she ever made was pickled radish. It's very Chinese and it's very yummy). When my sister was born, she affectionately called her "our family's little fatty" in Chinese, which my mom took great offense to.

Cancer took her from us, and too suddenly. One day she was fine, and the next day she seemed so small and frail lying in a hospital bed as her lungs filled with fluid. The doctors had told us that she would be okay, and we thought she was getting better, but she never did.

I never got to say goodbye.

So I guess this tattoo is a way for me to remember her, to remember her love and her strength and to remind me to aspire to be as loving and as strong and as beautiful as her.

My friend Catherine told me I'm a little too sentimental sometimes. I promise my next tattoo will have less of a backstory!

Do any of you guys have tattoos / have been wanting to get one? Let me know in the comments!