by Cammie Sammartino

Created on: May 07, 2007   Last Updated: May 16, 2007

First off, let me say this: I am not a wimp and normally not impulsive.

I have a tattoo on my left wrist and a nose piercing; I can take pain pretty well. People say once you get your first tattoo, it's hard to stop at one. I had thought long and hard about what I wanted my first tattoo to be and finally came upon the perfect idea: the Chinese symbol for strength on my left wrist. I have been through some pretty tough times in my life and to always have this symbol on my wrist urging me to work through whatever I was going through seemed pretty convenient. So I went one Saturday and got it done. It came out really well and healed pretty fast; I couldn't be happier. A few months passed and of course, I was itching to get something else done, hence the nose ring. Unfortunately, that didn't cut it and I couldn't deny the inevitable: I wanted another tattoo-fast.

A friend of mine had just gotten her second tattoo done and another friend of mine asked me if I wanted to go with her to get her third done. Not only did I want to go with her, but I decided it was time for me to get my second one as well. Since I didn't have a car and didn't want to wait until my mom could drive me to the original place I had my first tat and piercing done, I went with my friend to the place across the street from the dorm where I live. Big mistake-being impatient has its consequences.

I had had reservations about this certain place since I first saw it. Unlike the other place I went to, this place was all open and the chairs where they tattoo you weren't in enclosed rooms. Also, there was some construction going on in the air which meant a lot of airborne debris and on nice days, this particular shop kept there door open; a nice welcome mat for bacteria. But I was being stubborn. I wanted a tattoo and I didn't want to wait. I decided on two shooting stars to represent my grandparents that passed away ten days apart in November of 2005. At first, I had wanted the shooting stars behind my ear but after drawing up the sketch and placing it where I had wanted, I saw the artist added a few more details that made it too big for my neck. The only other place I could think of to put it was my ankle.

I made my appointment and came in the next day. The tattoo itself took about and hour and a half, maybe a little less. My nose piercing and the tattoo on my wrist had minimal pain so I wasn't scared at all when the artist moved the needle closer to my ankle to start. Unfortunately, I don't think I had

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