I'm doing 40 things
I did it.
Some of it.
It is the memorial tattoo for my friend, as mentioned before. I didn’t have much on me, but I decided that if I didn’t have the cash for all of the piece I want, I would end up leaving with his name, years, and the phrase I selected. And so it is half done.
What it looks like:
The right side of my back, from the edge of my ribs to the center of my back, is inscribed with different scripts:
Joseph John Legradi
1986 ~ 2003
Tra Esistenza, Tra Spirito [Italian for: In Life, In Spirit].
Soon, however, there will be more than that.
The left side will contain a tree, with the branches moving over to the text so that the words are over the branches, and the sun peeking out from the left side of the tree trunk. It turns out it will be taking up most of the middle of my back. And it is wonderful. Thinking about this as a major back piece is so comforting and exciting and wonderful. It so far looks beautiful.
Last nite talking to my boyfriend, I asked him if he’d go with me, and he was very happy to. After we talked I went back into my tat sketch journal to look over my original plans and ended up staying awake an extra two hours working on this idea, which is completely new. But everything is symbolized so perfectly. Main details of the symbolism and its perfection below…
The tree is a symbol of life. After Joe stopped wanting to end his life when we met, he soon came to terms with loving life, not fearing death, and being happy. The sheer irony of his early end has always stuck with me, and the concept of life was always something about him that stuck out to me and was an important part of him, and a tree is a perfect representation of that. I originally wanted the Celtic tree of life, but it just wouldn’t work, what with all of its intricacy. So I settled on a tree as it might look in November, leafless, except for the one bright green leaf that will appear on the right next to the text, another symbol of Joe’s vibrance. And the Novemberesqueness of the tree is important, as today is the third anniversary of his passing. I couldn’t not do it today. It was meant to happen today. So, yeah.
Secondly, another symbol of life is the sun that will appear on the other side of the tree. He lived in Hawaii, and loved to suft, and the sun is a big part of the life he took in, in and out.
Tra Esistenza, Tra Spirito is Italian for “In Life, In Spirit.” The phrase itself is of course self explanatory as to WHY I wanted it, but it deserved an English to Italian translation, as Joe being an army brat all his life, he was born in Naples [I always envied him for that ;)]. So Italian was of course the best choice.
I’m sure I’ll add to this later.
All I can say for now is that this is something truly important, a life goal that I can look back on and never regret because it is on a higher level. It is in flesh. I’m more at ease.
And thanks for reading, to those who chose not to skim. ;)
