In September 2016, I got a tattoo (my first and only, so far). I had considered getting inked before but had never found any symbol or phrase that I could imagine still wanting on my body when I am 70 or 80 years old.
But in the summer of 2016, my beloved grandmother, who I called Gram, had surgery for breast cancer at the age of 89. She was already suffering from Parkinson’s and was blind from macular degeneration, and now she was losing part of her body due to cancer. But when I asked Gram how she was doing after surgery, her rural Tennessee roots came out and she simply replied, “Oh, I’m a tough old bird. I’ll be fine.”
I was unnerved, but my blind, shaking, cancer-riddled grandmother was feeling tough and strong.
A few months later, she had a bad fall and broke vertebrae in her neck. She was not able to roll over or sit up without help until her death on Easter four months later. And yet, every time I asked how she was doing, Gram began by saying she was a “tough old bird.” She then went on to share details about how she was feeling and what she was struggling with, but she always started with her strength.
So when a dear friend asked me to go with her as she got a tattoo, I decided to get one of my own. And I knew just what to get—a reminder of my beloved Gram, the tough old bird. Because I come from her, and if she’s a tough old bird, so am I. In fact, I come from a long line of tough old birds. So I helped a tattoo artist design an image with three birds representing my grandmother, my mom and me. I had it forever tattooed on the inside of my left arm.
In trying times—and these days definitely qualify as trying—I struggle with anxiety. I sometimes forget about my inherent strength and focus on where I fall short. But then I look at my arm. And it reminds me that I can fly because of the strong women who came before me. I am a tough old bird, too.
In what ways are you a tough old bird? Who is your role model for dealing with trying times?
—Andi Lewis, Prairiewoods marketing coordinator