Okay, so I will start this like nearly everybody else...
At A Glance Author Christy Contact littleredgeo@yahoo.com When N/A Artist James "Romance" Edwards Studio AAA Tattoo Location Siloam Springs I have always wanted a tattoo, in my family that would be considered odd, no one gets tattoos in our family, and I had only seen one tattoo up close, my dad's single faded heart on his arm.
None the less I wanted a tattoo.
At the age of 12 I started begging for a tat, really begging. I have been begging for years. One day (Feb. 2, 2004 to be exact) I was in town with my mother and she looked at me and said, "You want to go get a tattoo?" I was thinking, No way she is just joking.
"What?!?!?"
"For your birthday, do you want a tattoo, while we are here?"
She really meant it!
We drove to AAA Tattoo a.k.a. Smilin'Jack's and walked in, she had to go as I was only 16. I looked around and showed my mom the bit of flash I had been eyeing for weeks. (I go in there and look at the flash whenever I have time) Mom okayed the piece mostly because of what it meant, Duty and Responsibility.
At this point you need to understand the relationship I have with my mom, when my parents divorced I stepped up and started watching my baby sister and other stuff, in short I grew up really fast, that was 5 years ago. I never had a "rebellion" stage, I had never really gone against my mothers wishes, the symbol and what it meant just made sense to me and to her.
We showed our IDs to James, but because out last names are different we had to drive home and get her marriage license to prove she was my mother.
By this time my boyfriend was with us (I don't remember why or how) and so when we finally got back to the shop mom signed the release and paid for the tat, for my birthday and left (she passed out the first time I ever got a shot)
I had decided on the middle of my back for this tattoo, so I can choose to show who I wish, because of what it means, I didn't want to be one of those girls who just gets a tattoo to show it off, and then James went to work.
He prepped my back by shaving it and then by spraying an antiseptic, then a stick deodorant to apply the transfer, there was where we had trouble, he just couldn't get the transfer to look straight, apparently my spine is crooked so it was difficult to know where the middle is, but finally we were ready.
For the first time I was nervous about getting a tattoo, the only tattoo experiences Id heard were from this site, the girl getting a lower back piece with another artist across the room was in tears, would I cry? Would my boyfriend laugh? Just how bad would it hurt?
Then it happened...two months later I can still feel that glorious feeling, that wonderful hum as the tattoo gun touched my skin for the first time, I knew in that one moment that I was hooked, I couldn't believe that I was ever scared, he did the outline and then he told me that the shading in would hurt even less, and he told me I could talk more now, My boyfriend, James and I had a nice conversation while he continued to fill in the solid black symbol on my back, then I got up to stretch my legs a bit, and looked over and saw what the other girl in the parlor was getting done, it was a pretty floral design on her lower back, not my style, but pretty anyways. Then I went back to my chair, and got back to work, James finished up. All in all it took 30 minutes and I was marked for life in a lovely 2x2 square of my back, when I was finished James asked me "So how was it?" I said, "I loved it" and I will always remember his reply, "Sounds like we have an addict here" and you kno w what? He was right.
The only thing I disliked about my tattoo experience was the music that the other patron had chosen, I would like to associate something other than "down with the sickness" with getting my first tattoo, I guess I will just have to be sure to pick the music for my next piece.
Now I am being faced with questions of, why so young? Don't you think you will regret it? The answers, I know I am young, but it just seemed right, and I have lived my life with one predominant idea...No Regrets. Not now, not ever.