Me: “Hey dad, if I get a tattoo will you get one too?”
Dad: *laughs* “Yeah, sure!”
Me: “Wait, are you serious?”
Dad: “I’m saying yes because I know that you will NEVER get a tattoo.”
My dad had very good reason to say he thought I was never going to get a tattoo because my whole life I have been EXTREMELY afraid of needles—petrified, actually. Like sure, no kid really likes going to the doctor. But my fear was on a whole other level. I cried on the way to the doctor, at the doctor, and while I was getting the shot. It got so bad that my dad didn’t even tell me he was taking me to the doctor anymore because if he did, I hid and didn’t get in the car. His famous trick became telling me he was taking me to get ice cream at Goodberry’s (I highly recommend it) which was conveniently located right by my doctor’s office…good one, dad.
When I had that conversation with my dad in 2016 about getting a tattoo, no wonder he was astonished! All he remembered was little me trembling in fear at even the thought of a needle. But little did we know that two years later, we were going to be getting matching tattoos.
On January 4th, 2018, my dad and I were driving to Boone, North Carolina from Banner Elk, North Carolina to get our tattoos. Even in the car, my dad was still convinced that I was going to back out, but I was all in. This tattoo meant something to the both of us—I had even designed it with the tattoo artist! The light bulb symbolized how my name means light, the mountains were the blue ridge mountains where both my dad and I grew up, and the cross marked the importance of my faith.
I remember this day as one of the coldest days of my life (the wind chill was well below zero) and also one of the best days of my life. Voluntarily having needles put into my skin was never a scene I pictured myself in, nonetheless enjoying. But the experience and the tattoo both turned about wonderfully! Not only did I get beautiful tattoo, but I got an unforgettable experience with my dad!
If you want to check out the artist and the place where I got this tattoo, check out Mark Matthijs at Speakeasy Tattoo Company! And if you are really wanting to get the full experience, check out the Mellow Mushroom right by the tattoo place where my dad and I got pizza afterwards!
Ellie Proctor 
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