In Memoriam

When I was 20, my grandmother on my dad’s side passed away. I spent my birthday driving from Nebraska back home to Illinois for the funeral the following day. My grandma was easily my biggest supporter in life. At the time, I was in college majoring in music performance on the saxophone. As a part of this degree, I was required to learn the piano and had a year and a half of this study under my belt. Second to the saxophone, my grandma loved listening to me play piano. When she passed, I knew I wanted a dual meaning tattoo; one to showcase my love of music but also one that I could use to memorialize my grandma in some way. I spent weeks image searching potential saxophone, piano, and general music tattoo ideas because I was blanking on a design of my own. I already had a music one I’d designed myself but there wasn’t a way to incorporate it or add a design to help remember my grandma. I finally decided on the heartbeat that blends into piano keys. The more I thought about this one, the more I appreciated how it would showcase my love for music and I considered how I could incorporate some reminder of my grandma into it. I decided on simply inscribing her birthday onto one of the piano keys. I realized that, the more keys I used, the more I could use the tattoo to remember all my grandparents. Once I decided on the tattoo, I was itching to get it done. However, being in school full time, I didn’t have a job or any significant income. My grandma was my main source of money my freshman and sophomore years of college as I never needed much due to living and eating on campus. The longer I waited, the more impatient I got. Then, one day, I received a call from my dad. He explained that I would be receiving a check in a few days for $1,000. The money had come from an unexpected and unknown insurance policy that my grandma had in her name that had suddenly become available. I knew immediately that part of that money would be perfect to finally get the tattoo done. I still find it ironic, but also very fitting, that my grandmother was still somehow able to finance a tattoo that would memorialize her after she’d passed.