I've got you under my skin.

At dinner before the tattoo appointment, my sister kept punching me in the arm randomly. "What the hell?!" I asked.

"Just preparing your arm for the appointment." She said helpfully and punched me again.

In December, I met with Bram at Rebel Waltz tattoo after my friend Andee recommended him to me. After realizing his style suited what I wanted for my tattoo, I put down a 50 dollar deposit just to prove to myself that I was going to do it. The appointment was set for January 14th.

For the next few weeks, I went from extremely excited about finally finding a design I liked to becoming extremely horrified that I was going to have something on my arm until after I started to decompose. My sister was certain I was going to chicken out. My mom was worried that it was going to look ugly. My dad was like, "Do what you want, my girl!"

I've always wanted a tattoo but I weigh the pros and cons of everything. However, I knew that the tattoo was something I wanted and I hadn't been so sure of something in a long time. The plan was going to get 5 crows going from the halfway point of my left bicep up my shoulder and onto my chest. In the days leading up to the 14th, whenever I'd get nervous, I'd lift the sleeve of my t-shirt to look at my bare arm and think about how cool Bram's work was going to look once it was on.

I was 75% ready, 25% nervous. But, as I left a deposit, I knew someone was going to get a tattoo either Bram or me.

On the day, Bram created a stencil and put it on my arm while I nervously jittered about. He started up the extremely loud and dentist-ry like tattoo machine and I held my sister's hand. My sister's eyes seem to say, "Last chance". Bram dipped the needle into the ink and the buzz started.

And I was ok. When it started, I felt relief. I was finally getting my tattoo after living in the "should I/shouldn't I" fog for a long time. And it didn't even hurt.

That was until Bram got to crow 4 at the top of my shoulder and the way he pulled on the skin and the way the needle cut, I felt like he was slitting my throat. I had told him I wasn't sure about crow 5 (the one on my chest) when he put the stencil on so when he finished 4, he asked if I wanted 5. After unclenching my teeth after the pain of 4, I said, "Nah, let's just end there".

My sister looked at it from her seat at the other side of the table I was lying on and said, "It's so nice! It almost makes me want to get one.....almost". 

I bled like a crazy person and my white tank top on the left side was spotted in blood and black ink. Bram gestured me to the huge mirror in his studio and I stood up and checked it out. Love at first sight.

*Poke* Ow! Quit it!

The days that followed were PAINFUL. I felt like I had the skin peeled back from my shoulder but not even the pain would stop me from checking out the healing progress and just marveling at the beauty of it all. I also had to dodge my sister and mom from poking me in the arm as it healed.

It's healed beautifully and the worries I had of regretting were for naught.

I can't wait for bare arm season

The tattoo is a sort of tribute to my grandma. My grandma had a pet wild crow that she fed on her deck that she tried to bring into the house one day. The crow didn't want to live in her house so it bit her. My grandma chased it off and stopped leaving bannock out for it. I felt like that crow during my childhood. I also feel that stopping at 4 was sort of meant to be and it feels like it could represent my dad, my mom, my sister and I.

It has a mishmash of meanings to me. However I decided on it because it just looked damned beautiful.

I really want to get another one but I think I'll wait until after I forget the pain of crow 4.

"I could never love anyone as I love my sisters"

Subtitle:  
Yes, Dudes and Dudettes, major-league butt-kicking is back in town.

The only way I can explain what it's like to have a sister is to tell you to read "Little Women". The novel follows the lives of four sisters – Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March – detailing their passage from childhood to adulthood. I read it as a teenager when a friend described me as a Jo and I wasn't certain whether to take that as a compliment especially after this friend told me my sister and I were essentially Amy and Jo.

I could also tell you to watch "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" to sum up my sibling relationship. It's the story of 4 brothers fighting crime in the big city...who just happen to be mutated teenaged turtles. Whenever we'd play Turtles on the playground, I was Leonardo. My sister would be Michelangelo and would get mad when I told her she was more of a Raphael.

As far as I can tell, we aren't mutations.

TMNT and Little Women: Basically the same story.

I remember the day my sister was born. I was just about two and it was the summer. I ran out of the elevator and yelled for my mother who was in a hospital room with my sister in her arms. As I felt that everything my parents did was a gift to me, I presumed the baby was mine. I screamed "my baby" until I was allowed to hold her. There's a picture of this moment where I ham it up for the camera, while my sister is exhausted in my little tubby arms while my mom is cautiously behind us ready to grab my sister if I were to drop her.

There are very few pictures from our childhood where she and I are pictured separately. She being 20 months younger than me, we were always close (even when I didn't want to be). Whenever I'd try to sneak out of the house to play with my friends, my mom would catch me and yell out the kitchen window, "TAKE YOUR SISTER". On days with terrible weather, we were each other's best friend.

But sometimes that kid just rubs me the wrong way. I see her as hot headed and she sees me a selfish. She'd sit on my chest when we were kids until I tapped out. I used to hang onto her thumbs with both hands until she was yelling for our dad. We both remind each other of embarrassing stories from our childhood (which will be left in the vault of our family) and call each other horrible nicknames ("Creepella" is a favourite that we alternate use of).

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“…Jo loved a few persons very dearly and dreaded to have their affection lost or lessened in any way.” 

Little Women

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People made fun of me after my sister got her first real boyfriend and all I did was complain about him. How they went to Wal-Mart for some reason and just hung out. Their constant dates to Burger King. Him teaching her about cool shows like Regular Show.  I didn't want to admit that I resented the poor guy for taking up time I felt belonged to me when it came to my sister.

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He's dull as powder, Meg. Can't you at least marry someone amusing? 

Jo

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I finally revealed to her how I felt after we got into an argument about my assy behaviour around her boyfriend. After she poked fun at me for being jealous of her boyfriend, she told me we'd return to regular hanging out.

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Together, there is nothing your...minds cannot accomplish. Help each other, draw upon one another, and always remember the power that binds you. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1990

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I still see my sister as the Amy March and Raphael to my Jo March and Leonardo. Both pairs have volatile relationships that cycle between extremes. However they are the closest siblings within their families and are prepared to do almost anything for the other. When Leo is about to be stabbed by the Shredder at the end of TMNT, it's Raph that throws his weapons away first to save Leo's life even though they had spent most of their time together earlier in the film at odds. When Amy falls through thin ice, Jo skates frantically to save her and walks home in her bloomers, giving whatever clothes she could to Amy to keep her warm. This was a few days after Amy burned Jo's manuscript (which she had been working on for years) and Jo told her mother that she'd never forgive her.

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I feel stronger with you close by

Beth

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When my relationship of four years ended in a catastrophic fashion that left me severely broken hearted, my sister took the next bus into the city to be with me and just let me cry for three days.  This was after I hadn't seen her for awhile due to how restrictive my relationship with my ex had been. Last year, when a doctor informed me that I would need an MRI to see if I had a brain tumour, the first person I wanted to see was my sister, who hugged me for half an hour while I freaked out.

I've never had fights like the fights I've had with my sister and we have even threatened to never talk to the other again after some of those fights. But it is the other who we seek out when we're upset or hurt (including just after the fights we have). I admire her and think she's gorgeous. She supports me in every crazy scheme I concoct and listens to me when I need someone to bounce ideas off of. When I was in Australia, I wished she had been there with me so we could see the sights together and I bet she felt the same way when she went to San Diego the first time.

Despite our Noel and Liam Gallagher-esque battles, my relationship with my sister is extremely important to me and I doubt I'd make such a big deal about stuff that involves her if I didn't care so much. After seeing my dad lose so much time with his own siblings due to family feuds and what not, I promised myself I wouldn't let it happen to my sister and I.

Besides, she's the only person who likes U2 as much as I do.