For Part 1, click here.
For Part 2, click here.
As Dan, the tattoo artist at Atomic Lobster and the slip of paper he had given me had explained, my new tattoo beneath the clean dressing began to smear and run. Well, that’s what it looked like. What was really happening was that plasma, lymphatic fluid, and excess ink were collecting underneath the clear bandage. There’s a reason they don’t tell you this BEFORE you get the tattoo.
When it was time for me to remove the dressing after three days, the area underneath was a blue eye-shaped blob.
I was a little nervous to take off the covering, not entirely sure what I was going to find. Wetting the area with warm water to loosen the bandage, I began to carefully peel up all four sides on the outer edges, until the only portion still adhered to me was on the tattoo. Pulling that final section up was not painful at all and any gunk was immediately lifted from my skin, sticking to the dressing which I dropped into the trash can. I gently washed my tattoo with soap, patting it dry after, then moisturized it. There was no scabbing, just a beautiful Sister Rain logo in blue, designed by Justin at Nowak Creative Studio.
It, of course, shows an eye and a pen nib, for obvious reasons. But what is also there that you cannot see but I can – talk about a turn of events – is the woman I was when I started this website, the meeting planner I was looking for a job, the meeting planner who found one, the wife, bird mom and friend I was before my vision loss, the eyes that no longer see very well, the eyes that cried many a tear in grief and frustration for all I had lost, the woman who had to rebuild a life despite how terribly difficult that was, the reader I have always been, the writer I have always been but didn’t quite know it even though others did, the stories I have to tell that will tell my story, the curious traveler who feared seeing the world without really seeing it would kill her love of adventure which would kill her, who found that the very best way to explore is with more than just one sense, the eyes that cried many a tear in joy and gratitude for all that remained, the woman who is not done yet, the wife, bird mom and friend that I am today.
It is not a reminder of who I am. It is, simply, me.
#sisterrain #alittlesightalotofheart #legallyblindwriter #writer #writersofinstagram #humaninterest #life #lifeisgood #lifestories #behindthescenes #bts #atomiclobster #thedanschuster #nowakcreativestudio #atattooinbluepart3
