The one on my upper back is a pair of drama masks, a #10 and a pink breast cancer ribbon. I got it the year my mom passed the 10 year mark for being cancer free. Not the best tattoo in the world, but my mom loved it, so obviously, it wasn't getting covered. We did make it look prettier though. :) But then, there was the sun and moon tribal (or as my artist called it, "the fucking tribal") on my lower back...
I got this in 2003 at Skibo's Tattoo when I still lived in Fort Collins. Actually 11 years ago this month if memory serves (and we all know my thing for the #11). I wanted the sun and moon because I love the sun (I AM a California girl after all) and I am a night owl so the moon is my friend as well. I know, shitty explanation for a tattoo, but I was 26 at the time and could care less. The artist I got had just finished her apprenticeship. Oh, and did I mention that I had had back surgery just four months prior to this. Recipe for an amazing tattoo? Riiiiight. I can hear my current artist laughing and/or swearing at me from here... :) I put it just above the aforementioned scar tissue; I was at least smart enough to not put it directly over the scar tissue. But the next two hours were two of the more painful of my life. And not just because she was a brand-new tattoo artist, tattooing through an obscene amount of scar tissue. That was the physical pain side of it, but the emotional pain that she was helping get rid of was a whole different story...
I was 26, working corporate retail, just had back surgery to help take the pain away...and the pain was coming back. Two months prior to the tattoo, I was diagnosed with panic disorder. Two full-blown panic attacks in under a month. And with this also came a severe case of depression. I mean, I used to be an athlete, for Christ's sake, and I was being deduced to a panicky, pain-ridden mess??!! So I figured if I found something else to cause me pain, then maybe it would take away the other one... Fucked up philosophy, I know, but I wasn't exactly thinking clearly at the time. And after two hours of her digging into my scar tissue, the pain did go away for a bit. But only because it had gotten numbed...
Flash-forward 10+ years. The panic attacks and depression are well behind me. I'm extremely happy with my life. I'm still trying to get back to that athlete prowess. I still have back pain, but I'm a therapeutic (read: severe deep tissue) massage therapist for a living. If my back didn't hurt, I would be a little concerned. But that tribal was still on my low back.
So last August, the first part of my back piece (a tribute to my beloved Northern California) was to cover up the tribal. An adorable seal pup was chosen as the appropriate vessel for both the Nor Cal theme and the cover-up. And this time my artist had to go through the scar tissue from the back surgery AND the tribal tattoo. And yes, it did hurt in certain spots (my tolerance has gotten WAY higher over the past 11 years), but this time, it was just the physical pain of the needle going through scar tissue. That's it. I actually had to laugh a couple of days later because I realized that by going through said scar tissue, he broke it up. I felt nothing in my lower back for the first time in I don't know how many years. The physical pain was gone and, without knowing it, the emotional pain that I felt 11 years ago had gotten "covered up" too. The seal covered up everything that tribal stood for, but that was an amazing thing. The seal brings a huge smile to my face every time I see him and he also moves when I move, which just makes me giggle. I am no longer that girl who got the sun and moon tribal 11 years ago. Not even close. In fact, thank GOD I don't have to see that tribal anymore because, quite honestly, the sweet, adorable seal pup is a lot closer to my personality than the tribal ever was. And that's the cool thing about the amazing tattoo artists nowadays. Practically anything can be covered up, including "the fucking tribal"... :)
***My cover-up "magician" in question is Mr. Adam Rose, owner and artist at Fallen Owl Tattoo in Lakewood, CO. You should totally check out his work sometime 'cause he's slightly freaking awesome. :)
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