So when it comes to tattoos I find that you get two kinds of people, those who don’t want you enquiring about their ink because it’s deeply personal and others who love to share… Guess which one my oversharing behind is…

Now that I’ve gone over the “just one Lil tattoo” mark. I thought I’d answer a question I get asked alot… Right after when are you having another kid and when are you straightening your hair again (Neither of which gets a favorable results) and that is, what’s the story behind your tattoos.

The story behind my tatoos

1. LOGAN

When my son died I went through a stage of seeing butterflies everywhere. I always think of him as a butterfly, I was pregnant with him and soon after his birth (two days) his spirit flew away… “too beautiful for earth” it give me cacoon/butterfly imagery. So I went off to a tattoo parlor “tattoo junkie in Uitenhage” and got his name and a tattoo edged into my skin while tears poured down my face and Robin held my hand. The tattoo artist, Ryan, let me chat about my feelings and I remember leaving feeling lighter. Here I had Logan’s name on my skin as proof to my heart (battling with survivor’s guilt) that no matter what, I would never forget him. I have also found that it’s a conversation starter for people who want to bring up Logan, but are afraid to. Now I litterally wear my heart on my sleeve.

2. BORN OF FIRE

After Aidan’s birth, I can’t remember quite how old he was, I wanted his name tattoed as well. I wanted both boys featured. This time around, my friend Justin had opened a tattoo parlor (Sailor Joe) so I had him do it. Instead of Aidan’s name I opted to have the meaning of his name instead. One of the many meaning of the name Aidan is “Born of Fire”. Those of you who have been following me for a while will know that they (specialists) weren’t very confident that I could ever have a baby again, I found out I was pregnant just as my Godmother was given 7months to live, Aidan was born on the eve of her funeral, unable to breath on his own and was in Nicu for a while before we could bring him home… It was a crazy emotional time and “Born of Fire” felt like the perfect phrase to remind me of what we had accomplished.
(Rob had his Dog tags done at the same time. One dog tag has his army number with Logan’s name the other his police number with Aidan’s )

3. STILL I RISE

Late last year around this time, I was exhausted AF!!! I had learnt the hard way that meaness does not end just because you are grown now… Like nopedy nope. My career and life went through so many ups and downs I had motion sickness, emotion sickness if you will. I was in such a dark place then out of nowhere I was like you know what! Actually Eleanor you are a badass! You had so many things happen to you that would have knocked people down but instead you grew through it. So I headed off to Sailor Joe to get myself a Christmas present. I got the name of Maya Angelou’s famous poem on my arm along with a lotus (a symbol for patience) as a reminder that “I’ve got this”. This year was as bad as last year when it came to people showing true colours, but I kept reminding myself of Maya Angelou’ s words. (Rob got a mash up of two star wars symbols, the rebel alliance and the jedi symbol as a reminder that he is an outsider and a rebel but he is okay with that)

4. NEEDLE AND THREAD

So this one is my latest, a needle and thread… This one symbolises my family and a reminder that I’m “sewn together with love”. My late Grandmother and late Godmother both loved sewing and teaching me tricks of the trade. My mom also sews and I can’t tell you how often she saved my behind when I still had my kiddies accessories business, we sewed untill the middle of the night so many timeS. Sewing has always been a way for the woman in my family to lean in and put food on the table, but honestly, even my dad can sew. So a needle and thread is a nice symbol for the DIYness that is my family.

I know tattoos aren’t for everyone and that’s very cool, but those of you who do have tats with cool stories attached would you be willing to share on the blog?