Inked

On April 27th, 2013, I came face-to-face with a miracle.

My mother fell down our back stairs, breaking the bone in her neck which should have resulted in her immediate death.  Instead, she moved herself to the emergency room at the hospital and was labeled a medical miracle. My mom lived.

She was put in a halo for ten weeks, and spent the first three in Rochester’s Strong Memorial Hospital mustering strength and optimism despite a harrowing prognosis. Sitting in her hospital bed, while I sat by her side, she repeated “and this too shall pass, and this too shall pass…” the words her mother would coo in the most difficult of times. I loved my Nana, and hearing my Mom echo that sentiment and derive hope from those words has stayed with me these three years, as it always will.

As I sat next to my Mom in the hospital, I half-kidding remarked, “Now we just need to tattoo that mantra on you!”  To my everlasting surprise, my mother calmly and resolutely replied, “OK.”

Last Monday, my mother, brother and I went in solidarity and had “And this too shall pass” tattooed on us as a reminder of the strength that my mother summoned in her hour of true need. We took my Nana’s journal from 1931 and pieced together the phrase in her own handwriting, so that the reminder would always be echoed in her beautiful voice. My mom and I have matching tattoos on our right wrist, and my brother branded his right inner arm. Love it.

Mom, my dearest Babyface, you have been my hero for my entire life, and this is just one more reminder of how incredible you are. In our dark times, we will remember that it will too shall pass, and in the best times, we will remember that they too are fleeting and should be savored to the fullest.

Now the real question is how long I will wait for my next tattoo…. ;)