For Anni

Anni mentioned that she was still trying to figure out my Mister's tattoos. First I will say that he enlisted in the US Army in 1954 and was honorably discharged after his service. He was a tank mechanic. Always being mechanically inclined, it was the perfect place for him to learn more. The tattoos had nothing at all do do with the time of 911 when they showed in yesterday's post.

This photo was taken in 1961

He tells me that he played hooky from high school with a couple of male friends, and they took a public service bus from Morristown, NJ to Newark, NJ to a tattoo parlor they had heard of that was conveniently across from Penn Station, a railroad hub. The tattoo artist was a young man called "Dutch." He had a wall display and the picture of an American flag and red rose with the word, "Mother" underneath, which was his choice for his left arm. His choice of art for his right arm was a dagger with with a snake wrapped around it. He doesn't remember why. I tried to figure out this choice and the best I can come up with is that a serpent wrapped around a dagger represents the Roman God Mercury. (Remember it was the early 50's.)

Today they have both faded to blue-black lines. All color is gone. He doesn't remember if it hurt, or what designs his companions chose. He does remember hiding them but one morning soon after, when his mother came in the bedroom to wake him up, his arm was out of the covers. She created an uproar that he never could have imagined!