Forever Footprint

I had always wanted a tattoo but I never had that special significant thing that I felt I could have on my body for the rest of my life. Sure there were things that would be nice to get - a flower, maybe something about running or something symbolizing my family.  However, I'd never seriously considered getting a tattoo until Josh died. Two days later I knew what I wanted to get - his footprint. It wasn't a matter of if I was going to get it but when. So then I had some decisions to make - mainly where I would get it. Ultimately I decided to get it on my shoulder blade. My foot/ankle was also a contender because I liked the idea of Josh "walking" with me for the rest of my life. However the practical side of me didn't necessarily want it to be visible 100% of the time. So I decided having it on my shoulder would work and I like to think of it as him "pushing" me along and supporting me. My next decision was designing the font for his name, which I really wanted to include. After scouring the internet but not finding anything satisfactory, my sister suggested I use my handwriting. I loved that idea and how personal it is, so that's what I did and to me, it came out perfect:

I got this back in August but never got around to posting about it. Some friends asked me if it hurt and I told them that it was nothing compared to the pain I've been through these last few months. (It also was a piece of cake compared to childbirth - sorry guys!). When I was actually getting it done it felt therapeutic and I had a sense of closeness to Josh. The artist used Josh's original footprint from the day he was born and made an exact copy of it. I also love how it's over one of my freckles - it is next to impossible to find space on me that doesn't have freckles! I am so happy I forever will have a visual reminder and symbol that my sweet boy is always with me. It certainly isn't the tattoo I would have ever envisioned I'd be getting but since I can't change the fact that Josh died, this is one way I will be absolutely certain his memory will be kept alive.