I was in and out of tattoo parlors all the time as a kid. Somehow I was able to resist the temptation to get one "on a dare" or a drunken stupor. I spent my formidable years in Panama City Beach where tattoos are handed out like lollipops at banks. Spent time overseas in the Air Force where all there was to do was make bad decisions... somehow I didn't give in.

At the ripe 'ol age of 37 I had survived some crazy stuff, lived one helluva life already and made many many mistakes. I'd hurt people who loved me, I'd been through some hellish stuff and made it out the other side. I wanted to get that tattoo now. Sure, I could have just remembered it, but I do look at it every morning in the mirror, I do still love it (8 years later) and it does keep me humbled and centered. It's a half sleeve from my shoulder down to an inch above my elbow... 80% of the people I work with have no clue.

I went into it knowing exactly what I wanted. Gave the tattoo artist, whom I'd researched and approved, the list of things I wanted to commemorate and the overall design theme I wanted. He came up with three different designs and I tweaked what I wanted.

The VT in my avatar is included in that list and is forever on my body. I don't regret any of it at all.