By Kayla Jardine/Joe Cingrana
This mother of four allowed her daughter to get a tattoo at only 15-years-old -- and there's a perfectly good reason for the permanent ink. Diana Register let her oldest daughter get inked on the top of her foot to honor her father, Chad, who passed away from pancreatic cancer only two years ago.
The heartbreaking loss left the family devastated, so Diana's 22-year-old daughter decided to get a tattoo of his badge number, 149, to always remember him. Diana was touched by the gesture until a few years later, her 15-year-old daughter Kaitlin said she wanted to get the same tattoo. After some thought, Diana decided she should be able to honor him in the same way after everything the family has been through, allowing her to get Chad's badge number in Roman numerals on the inside of her left ankle.
Tattoos are normally reserved for those over the age of 18, however, with a parent or guardian's permission artists will ink younger patrons. Knowing this was something to honor her father and not simply a passing fad says she's not letting anyone tell her it was a bad idea.
"I had one woman tell me that she's not old enough or mature enough to commit to a tattoo for lifetime," Diana tells Radio.com. She said "I was giving into a 'grieving child'. I would answer that with something very simple. She has already had a lifetime commitment of grief thrown in her lap. She has to go her entire life now without her dad. She cared for him. She watched him die. I'm pretty sure she developed maturity pretty quickly and knows better what a 'lifetime' is than most adults. Yeah, she gets to honor that however she wants to.
"As far as the backlash, I feel like most everybody has been incredibly supportive of the way we have chosen to honor our hero. Many people can look past the stigma of a tattoo when it comes to the reason behind it, but there are still people who will judge in spite of it."
The mother of four even got a tattoo of her late husband's EKG to always have his heartbeat with her.
"We've experienced great loss, and we get to document and honor that however we want to, even if it doesn't align with whatever other people think."
While nothing can ever fill the loss of their family member, this family honored their dad in a truly touching way.
"But one big gift we have been given in our grief is that we have learned what is important and what isn't. And the opinions of others, is no longer important to us. It's been liberating. So I would tell other people going through this experience to remember that feeling, to hold onto it. This is your journey. Nobody else's."
