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| Tattoo Us! March 2, 2004 This story is inspired by Matt Rust with his new matching tattoo� Rich and I had talked about it for years. How cool we would look with a tattoo. It is so �Rock and Roll� to roll up your sleeves to show off your tattoos. I think Rich liked to do shocking things to see how people would react to his actions. These days tattoos aren�t as scandalous as they were when we started planning these acts of rebellion. I, on the other hand, was just looking for a new way to impress the chicks. We often discussed what we would get. Rich was always a big �Calvin and Hobbes� fan and, at the time, I was a big Van Halen fan, so these were the initial ideas that came to mind. Many other ideas were conferred as the years passed and I don�t know if it was just that we never had the money or the time to get them but our skin was still ink-less and we were getting old. On the day I turned 30 years old, I decided that it was time. A few weeks later, in a very spontaneous moment, I got up the nerve and visited my local artist. As a proud Irishman that doesn�t like to wear much jewelry, I decided to permanently honor my heritage by getting a caladaugh tattooed on my right arm. For those of you that don�t know, a caladaugh is a traditional Irish wedding band with a crown to symbolize loyalty, a heart to symbolize love, and a pair of hands to symbolize friendship. I felt this one icon was perfect for me because it was how I would best describe my priorities in life. When I told Rich what I had done on my own, his reaction seemed bittersweet. I did not mean to push him out of the tattoo-loop, but on some level this is what I did. About six months later, Amy and Coral (our only child at the time) were going on vacation with her family for a week. To make it up to him, I advised Rich that we should get tattoos together while they were gone. While Amy liked my one tattoo, she wasn�t completely on-board with the idea that I get another, so this was an ideal time to get it done. Rich agreed and was excited of the prospect after all these years of finally following through. I told him that the parlor I went to for my first �tat� (that�s the lingo for tattoo) was clean, but we should do more searching for potentially better prices and hygiene. We did a couple rounds of surveillance only to find that my place was still the best, not to mention we had my experience there to back up what we found. We walked in the place and a guy was in the middle of getting his entire back covered with some very intricate work. We looked at patterns on the walls and books for a while and arranged a time to return because you don�t want to disturb a man that is about to draw on your body with everlasting ink. We spent a few hours eating lunch and in a nearby record store and came back at our scheduled time to make our final decisions. Rich knew that he wanted to get a Celtic Band around his arm, so he picked and priced the design and went first. I knew I also wanted something encircling my arm, but I still wasn�t sure what type I wanted, so I continued to search for something to jump off the pages at me. Rich�s band started to take shape and the outline was completed, so it was time to fill in the rest. As I looked over at my friend cringing in occasional pain, I grew fond of his new tattoo. The more I looked, the more I liked what he had on his arm. After his torture was complete, I asked Rich if he minded if we were tattoo twins. I was usually pretty good at reading Rich, but, I couldn�t get a good sense about how he felt about this idea. I�m not sure if it was because he just went through getting pinched with a nettle about 5-billion times in a row or my game was off for that day. I asked again and again as he dabbed his blood with a clean cloth, just to make sure it was alright because this wasn�t temporary, this was for the rest of our lives. Once I was convinced that he genuinely wanted me to get the same design, it was time to tell the artist. When I told the guy that I wanted this same Celtic Band, he took one look at my arm and increased the price by 50%. My arms have much more square-footage to cover with a tattoo than Rich�s. It would have been much more economical to have my arm appraised first instead of Rich�s, but I didn�t know at the time this was the one for me. I only brought so much money, so I carefully tried to negotiate with this gentleman. I certainly did not want to stir-up any controversy or ill-will with the man that could not only disfigure me soon, but who knows what else goes on in the under-world of tattoo artists. Eventually we came to an agreement that the tattoo would not completely surround my arm, it wouldn�t be filled in like Rich�s (which was my plan anyways, but I used it to barter with perfectly), and we would move it up my arm to an area with less girth and only increase the price by 10%. Now it was time for the pain to begin. I took off my shirt and revealed my original tattoo to its maker. Like the good artiste he was, he instantly recognized his handy work and asked, �Didn�t I do that one too?� I told him that he was correct in his assumption by saying, �Yep.� I was kind of proud to be part of his �gang�, but little did I know that this was the wrong answer and my pompous smirk quickly turned to a frown of anxiety as he gave me the news. He proceeded to tell me that he �takes it easy� on first-timers, but the process gets a little rougher and the nettles get a little bigger once he gets the repeat business. I started to sweat. Rich laughed with a vengeful snicker. After about an hour of remembering the nuisance of the procedure plus the added smarts for veterans, I was done. Rich and I compared and contrasted our new tattoos for a while and thanked the maniac with the electric nettle for doing a great job. I remember Amy�s face on her first night back to town. To put it lightly, she was surprised and I was told that this is the last one. I am extremely fortunate that Rich and I finally had this experience together and that we got the same tattoo. I was afraid that it would be juvenile to have matching tattoos, but now it is a great memorial to him. Amy plans on getting a tattoo soon and when she does I will be getting something added to my Celtic Band for Rich. I�m not sure what just yet�maybe his initials, maybe his birth and death dates, but something that says, �This experience was for you, Rich!� |
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| Richard John Rust |
| March 9, 1971 - January 13, 2004 |
| My Best Friend and Cousin, I will Love and Remember you Forever. |
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| Stories about Rich |