I was looking at John's Facebook page one day and there were two separate posts - one about the Terry Fox Foundation and one about a Fredericton tattoo artist. I had been looking for some sort of way to memorialize Cameron's bravery and there it was right in front of me. A tattoo - a constant reminder of Cam's strength every day of my life. I had never even considered getting a tattoo before, in fact the very idea sort of terrified me. But since Cameron faced so many difficult situations, it seemed appropriate and I was determined to do it.
The first step was to find a suitable message and design. The message was clear from the start - after all, the name of this blog is "Extra Strong", so that part was easy. All I had to do was settle on an image and quite by accident Julie found the perfect one. She was browsing an art website called Deviant Art and remembered that Cam used to belong to it. So with a little searching around she found a line drawing of a wolf that Cameron had done when he was a teenager - the one you see above. The font for the tattoo was by Cameron too, since the original drawing also included some text showing the wolf's name. And for those of you who would like to know - his name is "Steele".
The process itself was quite an experience too - just being in a tattoo/piercing shop full of pierced and tattooed twenty-somethings was weird to say the least. The artist, Matt is a friend of John's and he knew Cameron too so there was a personal connection. As I lay down on the table there was ear splitting music playing while the artist went to work. He asked if it bothered me and I said "No, in fact I think I even recognize it." Matt said he had just chosen some random music to play and it turned out to be the Beastie Boys - one of Cameron's favorite bands. I love it when things work out that way...
So there you have it. I now have a memorial tattoo based on Cameron's artwork that Julie discovered - all thanks to a couple of random posts on John's Facebook. A family effort in the true sense of the word. The tattoo says "Extra Strong" but I will always be sure to explain to people that it does not refer to me but is a testament to Cameron who was the strongest of us all.
The process itself was quite an experience too - just being in a tattoo/piercing shop full of pierced and tattooed twenty-somethings was weird to say the least. The artist, Matt is a friend of John's and he knew Cameron too so there was a personal connection. As I lay down on the table there was ear splitting music playing while the artist went to work. He asked if it bothered me and I said "No, in fact I think I even recognize it." Matt said he had just chosen some random music to play and it turned out to be the Beastie Boys - one of Cameron's favorite bands. I love it when things work out that way...
So there you have it. I now have a memorial tattoo based on Cameron's artwork that Julie discovered - all thanks to a couple of random posts on John's Facebook. A family effort in the true sense of the word. The tattoo says "Extra Strong" but I will always be sure to explain to people that it does not refer to me but is a testament to Cameron who was the strongest of us all.
