Now, the fashion to have a tattoo has been embraced by all of our children bar one, and many of my friends also support a discreet one, but I have never been tempted.
It is a decision which has nothing to do with the procedure, or a revulsion at the whole idea of body embellishments, rather it is a promise I made 65 years ago to my grandmother.
I will have been five, and out of the blue Nana just asked me to make the promise, and in that half century and more I have never felt able to break that undertaking.
I suspect her knowledge of tattoos was limited to those that were carried by sailors, often crudely done, and limited to the name of a place or sweetheart.
And given the number of women I thought I was in love with over the years, it has proved very sensible not to have had their name permanently etched for all to see.
So secure in the promise and with unblemished skin I was not quite prepared for the request today to have two small tattoos on either side of my hips and another on my stomach.
I suppose given the outstanding care I have received during the two different cancers over the course of the last year, I would have been prepared to accept “I love the NHS” with a heart, or the more crusading “Defend the HHS!”, along with “Mr. Trump keep your hands off our NHS and while you are out it forget buying Greenland”.
But no, mine are limited to three little dots, which are there to aid the technicians in aligning my body on the bed for the 20 radiotherapy sessions which are part of the prostate cancer treatment.
Of all the experiences I thought I had signed up for in the treatment, three blue dots were never part of what I envisaged.
Still there you are, .......... I trust Nana understands.
Location
Picture; head and shoulders, portrait of a Māori man, Gisborne Parkinson, Sydney, 1745-1771. Parkinson was a botanical artist on Captain Cook's 1st voyage to New Zealand in 1769. From: Parkinson, Sydney. A journal of a voyage to the South Seas. London, 1784
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| Maori Chief, 1784 ...... Nana would not approve |
I will have been five, and out of the blue Nana just asked me to make the promise, and in that half century and more I have never felt able to break that undertaking.
I suspect her knowledge of tattoos was limited to those that were carried by sailors, often crudely done, and limited to the name of a place or sweetheart.
And given the number of women I thought I was in love with over the years, it has proved very sensible not to have had their name permanently etched for all to see.
So secure in the promise and with unblemished skin I was not quite prepared for the request today to have two small tattoos on either side of my hips and another on my stomach.
I suppose given the outstanding care I have received during the two different cancers over the course of the last year, I would have been prepared to accept “I love the NHS” with a heart, or the more crusading “Defend the HHS!”, along with “Mr. Trump keep your hands off our NHS and while you are out it forget buying Greenland”.
But no, mine are limited to three little dots, which are there to aid the technicians in aligning my body on the bed for the 20 radiotherapy sessions which are part of the prostate cancer treatment.
Of all the experiences I thought I had signed up for in the treatment, three blue dots were never part of what I envisaged.
Still there you are, .......... I trust Nana understands.
Location
Picture; head and shoulders, portrait of a Māori man, Gisborne Parkinson, Sydney, 1745-1771. Parkinson was a botanical artist on Captain Cook's 1st voyage to New Zealand in 1769. From: Parkinson, Sydney. A journal of a voyage to the South Seas. London, 1784
I think your Nana would understand!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the radiotherapy - stay safe.
Cheers, Marilyn (nb Waka Huia)
I wish you well in your treatment, Andrew, and I am sure Nana would be proud of you having the dots for such a necessary treatment for the destruction of your cancer and your return to full health. Good luck, Suzanne
ReplyDeleteThank you both
ReplyDelete