Psychexero

My second tattoo I got just as I started college the first time around at University of New Mexico.  I got it on my 19th birthday, and I think that's when the birthday tradition started.  For all but the last two tattoos, they were birthday gifts to myself...

My best friend, Natalia and I had a rocky start becoming friends, but from the moment we actually clicked, she became another sister to me.  When I met her, her mother was very sick, having been diagnosed with breast cancer too late.  Natalia was not only a good grade making high school student, she also worked hard to help her older sister keep their home working.  Between my friendship with Natalia, my sister's friendship with her younger brother, and my mom becoming Maria's homecare nurse, their family became part of ours.  Natalia (also know as Nappy, whether she likes it or not) and her mother told me often that I was vibrant.  I'd been called a number of things: loud, obnoxious, bitchy... but I think vibrant was one of the kindest compliments I'd ever received.  I felt that truly encompassed who I was.

I'd moved away from home and my friends to attend college, but I always kept that close to my heart. I knew that I wanted to get a sunshine tattoo to signify that vibrance, but I could never figure out what kind of sun to get.  I didn't want cartoony or something generic from a flash wall...  Then I saw the cover art for Godsmack's first album and BLAM! I was sold.

I marched right into the tattoo shop across from the restaurant where I worked and told them what I wanted.

I loved the tattoo, and I held it dear.  But it became all that more important to me when Natalia's mother passed away the following summer.  I had a piece I would carry forward with me, and always allow me to remember.