My FAVORITE Rex Manning Day

This past Monday was a Rex Manning Day. For years now, I have referred to "tattoo days" as Rex Manning Days (for those who have seen the classic movie, "Empire Records" that will make perfect sense... and for those who haven't, I highly recommend watching it and "saving the Empire" = damn the man!).

This was no ordinary Rex Manning Day though, this was a very special and meaningful RMD. I have hundreds of tattoos, in all sorts of places. Some of them are just fantastic pieces of artwork that I wanted to preserve on my skin, some are silly, and some are sentimental. To date, the three portraits of my kids truly mean the most to me in the "significance category" and this new masterpiece I added on Monday falls right into that genre as well.

For eight hours, I sat and watched Mike DeVries layer abundant amounts of gorgeous, vibrant ink into my calf, shinbone and lower knee; as Ash, an artist from England, here for a seminar with Mike, conversed and learned by our sides. It was a positive, fun, enjoyable day ... but the part that made it the MOST marvelous was what I walked away with; and that would be THIS:

While I am always genuinely astounded at the degree of talent that Mike's work produces, I don't think I am ever quite as impressed as when the reference subject is someone that I know and love. And if there is ANYONE in this world whom I know or love better and more deeply... it is THIS particular person. For nineteen years, I have shared nearly every day with him. For nineteen years, I have made goals, created dreams, raised three children, been through incredible highs and struggled through difficult tribulations, eaten, sleeped, talked, laughed, cried, perservered, loved and lived life with him. Many thought we were too young when we committed to marry each other back in 1991; but we didn't agree. We realized that we had something very rare and unique, and we didn't want to waste one day not sharing it and trusting each other with our journeys and progressions through life. There was no reason to wait and we never looked back ... not for one day.

So this Rex Manning Day had special significance to me. It was a long-awaited moment to add this piece of artwork to my collection. This session wasn't any normal ink episode ... these hours etched a timeless tattoo onto my skin, one that is beautiful and excellent; but more importantly, commemorates the one thing that has been my most everlasting constant throughout my life - my partner, best friend, companion, soulmate. He is "officially" now on my skin - but he has always "officially" been my heart.