By: Vita Duva –
In the summer of 2009, an electric machine controlled by the hands of a tattoo artist rapidly drove a single needle in and out of a 20-year-old woman’s un-inked skin; spelling out the name “Tarin Elise” in cursive block letters, later encircled by a streaming free-handed design.
Accompanied by a trusted friend (already seasoned with ink), Tarin Elise Delaney, felt nothing more than a mere pinch after being told by onlookers that her location of choice (her right foot) was one of the most painful places to get a tattoo.
Even better, Delaney does not have a single regret regarding the experience.
“Tarin was my mom’s modeling name when she was younger, and Elise came from a popular movie that she loved at the time,” Delaney said of her name’s origin.
Yet, Delaney has not spoken to her mom since she was 15 years old.
“She always had a problem with alcohol. Over the years it progressively got worse as she continues to remain an alcoholic to this day. Having this tattoo symbolized a positive part in my mom’s life, before the disease captured her,” Delaney said, with strength in her voice.
Delaney added, “It reminds me that everything happens for a reason and to keep her in my prayers.”
Now a senior majoring in business administration, Delaney dreams of one day landing a job as a business traveler. Taking life in stride, Delaney sees every day’s experience as a new lesson to be learned.
Unfortunately, not everyone has felt as optimistic about his or her tattoos as Delaney has. According to the Harris Interactive 2009 poll, the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery executed an estimated 61,535 tattoo removal procedures. This is ironic, considering tattoos are generally considered permanent, but yet this statistic shows that this is not always the case.
Pre-laser tattoo removal, a combination of dermabrasion, salabrasion, cryosurgery and excision, became available to the public in the 1990s. However, this does not mean that choosing to have a tattoo removed is as easy as it may sound on paper. According to a recent article in the Boston Globe entitled, “Getting a Tattoo is Easy. Undoing it is No Pretty Picture,” Teitell reports, “stubborn tattoos can take up to 15 or more sessions to remove, and it can cost thousands.”
On the contrary, according to a poll taken by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in April of 2006, over 45 million Americans sport at least one tattoo. Another one of the 45 million, Nicholas Aurora, is a continuing education student who successfully graduated last year with his B.A. in psychology. Aurora currently has three tattoos and certainly plans on getting inked again in the future.
Media Credit: Vita Duva - Aurora's leg tattoo.
“My tattoos are very meaningful to me, and I love what I have on my body now and I want to get more. I have a couple other ideas,” Aurora said.
Like Delaney, Aurora would also never consider having any of his tattoos removed.
“When you go to get a tattoo, it’s there for life, and you know it’s going to be there for life,” he said. “I would never change it. I am proud of them. I’ll never get tired of them or anything.”
Aurora added, “What people do is what they do. People have their own reasons for getting a tattoo removed – maybe, you know, they didn’t like the way it came out, they got tired of the idea, whatever it may be.”
