they look like big, good, strong hands

Last year an acquaintance of mine (more like a friend of a friend) sent an email about her niece. Her niece needed to have open heart surgery. This friend of a friend decided to do what she could and raise some money for her sister and brother-in-law. She made bracelets and sold them to anyone she could. I was one of those anyones.

The bracelets are basically a piece of hammered metal slipped onto a vintage watch band. I ordered 2 as gifts for my sisters. She was doing this as a gift to hers so I felt it appropriate to make it a gift to mine. I had the words VIDA SANGRE AMOR hammered long ways down the metal. My sisters are exactly that to me, LIFE BLOOD LOVE.

I don't know at what point I decided I wanted to have these words tattooed onto my skin but I held onto that notion for a while, waiting for the right time.

A few weeks after giving my sisters the bracelets my friend Stuart was diagnosed with leukemia. The call for blood and platelet donors was put out and I responded. As a platelet donor you have to meet a lot of criteria, one of them being no ink in the past 12 months. So I waited for Stuart to recover before going in for my new tattoo. And then it took on new meaning. I was giving my blood to someone I loved in hopes of helping to save his life. Unfortunately, that's not how the story goes.

So on the first of August I went and got it done. Celebrating the love I have for my sisters and the special life of my dear friend Stuart. Blood never felt so important...

(close up)

(in context but backwards because i took it in the mirror!)