Memorial tattoo for grandmother

Obviously I have my personal discomfort about the “CREATION” and “WORSHIP” and so on subliminally placed in this touching remembrance piece, but what I really got a kick out of it is that the tattoo was done by Scott at Pain Hate Pain in Akron, Ohio. (Not because there’s anything funny about Scott, but because I think it’s funny when überfriendly tattoos are done at shops with angry names — it’s the word-nerd in me responding).

26 thoughts on “Memorial tattoo for grandmother

  1. Personally I am wondering if “SAAROW” is intentional (thinking phonetically of sorrow, not Germany). Maybe not, but caught my eye right after WATER.

  2. I agree with you about the name thing, Shannon. I always laugh when I see some totally cute tattoo done at some shop with a really SM-y name. Hee!

    And the idea of this is truly neat.

  3. Eat, Ion,Hid, Or,Cot &
    Manx2 and its really cool cus one is going downand the other one is directly beside it going upwards

    I think its a very cute idea 🙂

  4. I dunno, Shanon, if you read it vertically left to right it reads: Cb’tnauk b’hilhids lwekayeman’w ruain n’hnamo! Jatl ovearl’r… which is clearly an incantation to summon Cthulhu or some other elder god. I won’t reproduce the rest of it here, partly because I think you get the point and partly because I could never forgive myself if Cthulhu showed up on ModBlog and started turning all the readers insane.

    (tongue firmly in cheek, but never in check…)

  5. water, ask, row, the, creation, eat, ah, man, name, love, you, nana, cot, go, man, volt, do, on, inn, lit, yo, lan, ake, aye, one, lava, ate, ha, aha, den, aga, jole, ole, ana, slam, arow, noy, jat, lao, ano, oman, ear, earl, wag, he, val, gawp, law, wat, nan, lop, pol, an, ret, yon, mad, to, ion, vi

    59 words, now thats the sign of a sick mind, or someone who likes word games, plz decide yourself…
    lol 🙂

  6. This is actually my tattoo lol. Wow, i was kinda shocked when someone told me it was on here and i didnt believe them at first.

    The concept was something that i put alot of time into. My grandma was a pretty religious woman (not crazy evangelical or anything though) and I put symbols into it that had meaning.

    The “hidden words” in the wordsearch that everyone is talking about such as worship and creation were not actually planned. The wordsearch itself was one that we found online and Scott subbed in the words that I wanted. The original wordsearch was a religious one and we didnt realize it until after but it surprisingly fit.

    And about it being done at Pain Hate Pain. Sure its a bit different but they are the best.

  7. It reminds me of that episode of The Simpsons where Homer’s mother communicated with him through words hidden in articles in the newspaper. A la A Beautiful Mind.

  8. I think Anselm should win for the best comment on this post. Hahaha!

    Yeah. This tattoo is sweet, cute etc… but they religious stuff really irks me.

  9. I think that’s pretty neat . . . I don’t understand why people have problems with the religious stuff, though. I mean, isn’t body modification all about showing what is important to YOU, personally? It almost seems like a double standard . . . people who are disturbed by overly graphic/sexual tattoos catch a lot of flack, but then it’s no problem for people to take issue with religiously-themed work. Or maybe I’m just taking it too seriously.

  10. I find it interesting that a blog devoted to body art and tolerance towards others has a level of “personal discomfort” towards people tattooing peaceful religious symbols on themselves.

    Hypocrisy, no?

  11. Yeah, because Christianity is “peaceful” and tolerant, hahahahahaha…. Oh wait, what’s commandment NUMBER ONE? Believe in me or I will torture you forever?

  12. Whoa, Shannon, I think that’s a little harsh.

    I don’t mean to get into a theological debate, but Christians aren’t bound by Old Testament Law anymore . . . with Christ came the New Covenant, with only one command: LOVE.

    Granted, not all (or even most) Christians live 100% according to this. Any ideology will have its hypocrites. But still, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t deserve some respect, right?

    Plus, regardless of all that, if someone wanted to get something “religious” or “Christian” tattooed onto themselves, that’s THEIR choice, and THAT, at least, should be respected.

  13. This tattoo was done for my grandma, not myself. I am not a christian in any form but have symbols of things that were important to HER. The only thing that was supposed to directly reflect religion on the tattoo was the cross itself. The jesus fish was simply a keychain that i gave her when she was young and when she died I found it in her purse.

    Before you keep downtalking my tattoo have a little respect please

  14. What’s slightly disturbing me is that one horizontal row has “arowid,” which is but a typo away from Erowid (www.erowid.org), the Interweb’s leading site for information on psychedelic drugs. I personally do see where many of the substances described on Erowid could lead someone to a spiritual or religious experience, but I’m guessing Grandma might have thought differently.

  15. I think that’s one of the sweetest, unique tattoos i’ve ever seen. My grandfather passed away recently and I’ve been browsing for ideas for a memorial tattoo. For my grandmother, who is still alive, I got dice with a 1 and 2 respectively, a special move in backgammon which she taught me how to play as a child and we still play whenever we see eachother. I am having trouble choosing something to represent my papa permanently on my body, but hopefully i will be able to think of something as creative and powerful as the word search. Again, awesome tat and sorry for your loss.

  16. How would it be a typo? It’s not like it was meaningly tossed in there with an accidental “A” right? I love the whole idea of this tatoo. My view on the christian thing is that if you don’t like it then to bad, some christians don’t like other things that they have to deal with just on the way to Wal*mart. But hey, it just like peple that don’t believe living in a place that goes by a Christian slogan; In God We Trust. I’m not a Bible-thumper, but I believe in God, and that jesus died for everyone, but i’m not being a preacher over here, i’m just trying to get to the point.

    It a very nice tattoo, and it actually makes me think about my Grandma, and she’s really religious, but she’s not a bible-thumper eighter, and she’s not dead :/. I don’t know what I would do with out her, and I would never want to imagine what the person with this tattoo is going through. I may not know them, but I still feel bad for her being gone. The tattoo is simply amazing.

  17. Wow, I’m commenting really late here, but that tattoo, or more specifically, the meaning behind it really moved me. My Nana died a few years back – she was my most loved person – and it just really touches a cord for me to see such a sweet memorial to a Nana.
    Nanas are the best!!

  18. WOW!!! I searched for memorial tattoos and found this. This was an awesome idea. I am searching for something for my own grandmother who passed away and this would have fit perfectly… if only it wouldn’t be posing… Well I am going to go and see what else I can come up with. I guess you had the right idea looking into what she was into during her stay here on Earth… you rock.

    K

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