Margit’s Note: Tattoo You (Not Me)

By Margit Detweiler

(Photo: Farrah Braniff/SusanGoldberg.com)

I’m on a fast track to 50 and yet… when I half-jokingly ask my mother, as a preface to this issue, how she would feel if I got a tattoo she swiftly responds with a “No.”

Okay, Mom. What about a commemorative, post-chemo…

“Nope.”

Despite Mom’s protestations, I’ve considered it. I just have zero idea of what I’d get. What’s worth a perma-doodle for my forearm? What witty, sums-it-all-up phrase could I see peeking out of a backless dress? (If I wore backless dresses.)

There are plenty of tattoos I see and think, “Now why didn’t I think of that??” See this week’s theme image for the perfect example.

Yet, nothing has me rushing to get needle and inked. More than likely, I’d get a tattoo, tire of it and end up with a Johnny Depp “Wino Forever” travesty. I have a poor track record with body modifications in general — a heavy, dangling feather earring in 10^th grade resulted in a torn earlobe. I’ve been a clip-ons wearer ever since.

But never say never.

“Never.”

Okay, Mom, whatever.

This week, we have a packed issue for those have dared (or feigned) to get inked.

• Susan Goldberg (see the aforementioned theme image) is forced public with the private
• Sara Gilliam writes her life in ink
• Annette Earling’s 73-year-old mom schools her in cool
• Courtney Colwell gives us reasons to pause the needle
• I get career advice from Tattly
• Cheryl Dumesnil interviews a tattoo artist who helps breast cancer survivors heal through ink

Permanently yours,

Margit

Originally Published May 31, 2016. Updated April 4, 2021.