Barbara J. Hamby

sign-up for our email list

Who Needs Tattoos?

Many of us folks in the third third or fourth quarter of our lives have skin that has thinned over the years. In addition, many of us take aspirin or other products that thin our blood to prevent clotting. As a result, every little bump leaves marks, especially on the hands and forearms. Some of mine are shaped like tiny hearts; others look like butterflies. A few have shapes that can’t be classified.

Al tries to help me avoid bumps and bruises by rounding off the corners of objects I often collide with, but it’s not practical to saw the corners off all the furniture.

Unlike tattoos, there is no opportunity to request a specific pattern to the bruises, but that would take away the fun of trying to guess what each one looks like.

All my life my skin has marked easily. Years ago a neurosurgeon called the marks he saw on my skin by a fancy name that I thought was something like dermagraphy, but that’s not how Webster’s Unabridged defines it. Whatever presses against my skin for any length of time leaves an imprint.

Anyway, with all the intriguing marks on my skin, in various weird shapes, who needs tattoos?