Today is mom’s 60th birthday and she is in heaven celebrating with her mama who she missed so much so I’m sure she’s happy about that. I had plans of flying to KC to surprise her for her birthday. She would have possibly had a minor heart attack or crapped her pants when she saw me show up at her door. It would have been great, well not a mini heart attack but crapping her pants would have been funny to say the least.

After mom passed away I still wanted to go to KC to celebrate mom’s birthday with the family. I booked a flight hoping I would be better enough to fly by then. Well as you know I have had a doosey of a 4 weeks. Therefore I am not cleared to fly. I don’t feel comfortable flying by myself anyway right now let alone flying at all with my oxygen needs. I am now trying to get a refund on my airfare since I purchased the flight insurance thinking this might happen. Even with the current state of my health, celebrating with family is still happening thanks to my fabulous sister and aunt. They flew out here to be with me since I can’t travel right now. They are awesome! I feel bad that I can’t travel to people right now. I am very thankful they jumped at my idea of them coming here for mom’s birthday since I had to cancel my trip there. We are going to lunch at mom’s favorite restaurant here in Knoxville, Wasabi Japanese Steakhouse, for her birthday today. Heck we may even have them sing happy birthday to her for the dessert. Hahaha She would be cracking up if we did that. We had a ‘flat daddy’ to take with us places for when Jason was deployed. Maybe we can make a ‘flat mama.’ Now that’s funny.

Now for another order of business regarding mom and her birthday. Since I was in lock up on my birthday and basically since, I saved up my birthday money to do something special when I was feeling better or at least not in the hospital. I decided to get a tattoo in my moms memory with that money.

I know not everyone is for tattoos but for me they tell my story. My mom and I got our first tattoos together, well I should say her only tattoo, for my 17th birthday. They were both angels and hers said ’65 roses’ in the halo on our ankles. 65 roses is a saying in the CF community.

The short version of the story as to what 65 roses means is this: A young boy years ago heard his mom making phone calls fundraising for cystic fibrosis. His mom asked him if he knew what she was doing and he said, “yeah, raising money for 65 roses.” Thus began the 65 roses craze. There is now a 65 roses foundation and much more.

I have 7 total tattoos (well 8 if you count the cover up…more on that later) all with a specific meaning and gotten in different places, geographic location that is. I have a rose with a banner that says sixty-five roses on my rear end ☺️. I got this one while living in Pittsburg, KS while my ex-husband went to school at Pitt State. Obvious meaning behind that one on is the 65 roses/Cystic Fibrosis story. Next up was a kanji/tribal on my lower back that says ‘strength’ while visiting a friend and my uncle in San Diego, CA. Meaning behind that one is I need to continue to be strong and fight. Next up was a large tribal butterfly with a purple awareness ribbon as the body with the words ‘Never Give Up’ over top. Meaning behind that is obviously CF awareness and my motto of never give up. The back of the Shannonigans shirts are designed from this tattoo, so you all have a part of me when you are sporting your Shannonigans gear. Next up was a simple purple (CF color) rose with CF hidden in it on my right ankle. I got this one on our honeymoon in Hawaii. My husband got a tattoo as well. His is a black and grey rose bloom with 65 in purple centered over top of it. It was our wedding gift to ourselves. Next up was ‘BREATHE’ which is an ambigram (reads the same right side up and upside down) on my right side upper rib area. Obviously another CF reference. Seeing a theme here? Haha Next up was a cover up of my first tattoo on my left ankle. It was a cherub or as my husband called it my gremlin. The cover up is a pink hibiscus because Hawaii is my happy place and I love my family there very much. I got this one while visiting a friend in Tampa, FL. Mom was not too happy that I covered my first tattoo I got with her. She was sentimental about it. She eventually came around and realized it was beautiful and represented both of our happy place.

I’m almost done…hang on for 2 more. Haha. Next up is ‘Every breath counts’ on my left upper rib area. This one was on a sisters trip to Destin, FL. My sister got ‘with every breath’ on her right upper rib side. Sisterly love right there. Obviously another CF reference, breathing is important. Now, for my most recent one for my mama. It is an hour glass with a ribbon over the front of it that says ‘Love Mom’ in her handwriting on my left wrist/forearm. I placed it on my left wrist/forearm because mom was left handed. The meaning behind the hour glass is that my mom watched Days of Our Lives from day one of its airing thanks to her grandmas influence. If you know anything about Days you know the intro is an hour glass and they say “Like sands through the hour glass…so are the days of our lives.” It also represents the short time we had together and me wishing I had more sand in the hour glass/more time with her. So for her birthday I used my birthday money to honor her on hers. I think she would like it.

Yes it looks like it says ‘Dove or Bove mom,’ it’s just how her loopy L was and I didn’t want to change that. I love it and I think of her everytime I see it. Not that I need something to make me think of her but you know what I mean. I seem to have hour glasses strategically placed so I see them every day. The one on my dash in my car, one on her shelf in the office where I do all my treatments, on my iPad lock screen and now on my arm.

Now that we have all of that covered…happy birthday mom. I miss you and I love you so much. I just want more time with you. I’m very thankful for the 6 days we got at the beginning of January. I will cherish that time forever. I just want more time…

See ya…love ya…bye! ⌛️🌹💜

Tattoo pics!