I didn't know where to post this so I'm doing it here. A lot of you knew that my dad died a week before our trip last month after seven months of back and forth between the hospital and nursing home back to hospital, etc. Our youngest son, Mark, is not one to show his emotions...he never cried in front of me when grandpa died (he did with his friends), whereas our oldest son is very emotional and cried a lot with me. Mark has always gone his "own" way. He came home several weeks ago from the University of Dubuque to see the dentist. When he walked in the house, he gave me a kiss and a flower. I looked at him and said, "what did you do now?" He showed me his bag of laundry and then said, "Mom, I got another tattoo." Now, we had discussed this and he was going to stop after the second one (I approved the first one and, in fact, paid for it for his 18th birthday. The second one he paid for himself for wrestling--long story...let's just say it is on his thigh and represents his youth club, high school team, college team and a high school teammate who died his sophomore year of high school).
So I said, "Mark, you promised." He said, "Mom, just look at it." Well, I did and I started sobbing. Mark and his brother (Andy) always called my dad "Putz." I'm not sure why they called him this and I'm not sure they do either. They started when they were about six and eight years old (they are now 20 and 22). Well, on his arm he had tattooed "PUTZ". Now tell me, how was I going to get mad at him for that? It was his way of honoring his grandpa and keeping him close to him. He also has had all of his wrestling t-shirts, sweatshirts and jackets mammogramed with RIP Putz and dedicated his season to him.
I just wanted to share this as I was very much touched by it. Here's the tattoo (it is on his arm):
So I said, "Mark, you promised." He said, "Mom, just look at it." Well, I did and I started sobbing. Mark and his brother (Andy) always called my dad "Putz." I'm not sure why they called him this and I'm not sure they do either. They started when they were about six and eight years old (they are now 20 and 22). Well, on his arm he had tattooed "PUTZ". Now tell me, how was I going to get mad at him for that? It was his way of honoring his grandpa and keeping him close to him. He also has had all of his wrestling t-shirts, sweatshirts and jackets mammogramed with RIP Putz and dedicated his season to him.
I just wanted to share this as I was very much touched by it. Here's the tattoo (it is on his arm):
So sorry to hear of your loss...But that is a great tribute and your son will always have that with him.