“Want to come visit for a few days and have some fun? Your father is out of town, and I haven’t seen you in ages,” the email from my 76-year-old mother read. It wasn’t unusual for us to embark on spontaneous adventures together. How could any daughter refuse such an invitation, especially when it came from a mother known for her zest for life and occasional wild streaks?
My schedule was flexible, so I flew from Bozeman, Montana, to Austin. Upon arrival, my first question was, “What’s the plan?”
Her response was even more open-ended, “What do you want to do?” An idea I’d been considering surfaced. “Honestly, I’ve been thinking about getting a tattoo,” I confessed, “but I never seem to find the time. What would you think about us getting tattoos together?” I anticipated hesitation, maybe even a gentle scolding.
Instead, she surprised me. “Well, I don’t know… I mean, I guess I could. It feels so exciting and wild! What would I even get?” she pondered.
The Spontaneous Tattoo Idea
Sensing her openness, I seized the moment. “Let’s do it! Let’s get tattoos together, just for fun! They don’t have to be huge, and it will be a real adventure.” She laughed, agreed, and I immediately started browsing images of lotus flowers and mandalas on my phone for inspiration. The idea of Mom Daughter Tattoos was becoming a reality.
Mom, ever the researcher, grabbed her MacBook, poured herself a glass of chardonnay, and began looking for the highest-rated tattoo parlor in Austin. Safety and quality were paramount for her; no “seedy, scary places” would do. She is, after all, a woman of class.
Then, she remembered a place that would meet her standards. This wasn’t our first foray into spontaneous decisions. About twenty years prior, when she visited me in Seattle to help with a new baby, we’d both felt restless and decided to get our belly buttons pierced. My piercing quickly became infected, and I had to remove it. She, however, kept hers in for two decades.
Finding the Perfect Tattoo Parlor
Years later, an MRI revealed her long-kept secret. The doctor chuckled when he saw the belly ring. “That’s going to have to come out, I’m sorry to say,” he announced. She laughed too, removed it, but couldn’t manage to put it back in.
That’s when she discovered Electric 13 in Austin, a shop that offered both tattoos and piercings. She visited them, hoping they could help re-insert her belly ring. “They were so kind,” she recounted, “They encouraged me to choose something new and more modern and did a fantastic job putting it in.”
So, Electric 13 it was. Her familiar haunt. Like a seasoned insider, she knew the back entrance was the way to go. “They do piercings in the front, and the tattoo artists are back here,” she explained, leading the way.
We were introduced to Patrick, a tattoo artist whose arms and hands were adorned with ink. He greeted us with a warm smile and an easygoing laugh. He quickly prepared a lotus flower stencil for my mother – a design she’d quickly chosen. Before she could second-guess herself, she was on the table, the buzzing tattoo machine ready. The process was swift, only about twelve minutes. She experienced moments of discomfort, but mostly, she laughed and cheered. “Oh, I love it! It’s exactly what I envisioned,” she exclaimed. “And it didn’t hurt at all, by the way,” she added with a wink at Patrick.
Alt text: A mother joyfully receives a lotus flower tattoo on her forearm, celebrating a spontaneous bonding experience with her daughter at Electric 13 tattoo parlor.
Sharing the Moment: Daughter’s Tattoo and Family Feeling
My tattoo was more intricate and took around an hour. Mom stayed by my side, reading corny jokes from her phone, laughing and engaging with everyone in the space. Even the young assistant, who handled cleaning and appointments, joined in, listening to the jokes. In that moment, surrounded by the hum of the tattoo machines and shared laughter, we felt like a sweet, unconventional family.
“What do you think about this adventure, Mom?” I asked, pausing amidst the buzzing.
“Well,” she reflected, “getting a tattoo is a deeply personal experience. It requires trust, vulnerability, a bit of pain, time, and some financial investment. It’s not just for sailors anymore. It can be a meaningful ritual, a way to decorate the body’s canvas. As I get older and my body changes, I worry less about ‘What will others think?’ and care more about ‘What do I want? How do I want to express myself?'” Her words resonated deeply with the spirit of mom daughter tattoos – a shared expression of individuality and bond.
I am undoubtedly her wild child, and it’s clear that my mother’s inner wild child emerges when we are together. I know this spontaneity makes my more conventional siblings uneasy and my traditional father anxious. But we love it. And ultimately, that’s all that truly matters. These mom daughter tattoos were a testament to our unique connection.
More Than Just Ink: A Meaningful Ritual
After our tattoos were complete, Mom and I stopped at a market for wine. We spent an enjoyable hour examining the art on the wine labels. “This bird on this malbec would look amazing on your shoulder… and look!” she pointed out, “This tree on this bottle of syrah is so beautiful; I would put that on my calf and have the branches wind upwards.”
Half the joy is in the dreaming, but the other half is in the doing. I am incredibly grateful to have a mother who embraces life, who chooses to experience it fully rather than observe from the sidelines. Life is for living out loud, not playing it safe.
That very sentiment, I thought, would make an excellent tattoo. Our mom daughter tattoos were more than just ink; they were a symbol of our shared spirit and enduring bond.
Alt text: A proud mother and daughter smile and display their freshly inked mom daughter tattoos, celebrating their special connection and adventurous spirits.
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Originally published in May 2017.
