Today I woke up with the hopes that 2020 would announce that it was playing one big joke on all of us, that none of this was true. That this past month was its way of trying to make us all be a little kinder to one another… A-lance, that just wasn’t the case. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one holding onto that small little bit of hope when they woke up today.
Considering everything thats going on in the world, I’d say I’m managing pretty well. While I’ve had moments of anxiety, I’ve managed to maintain a fairly calm mental state. I’m working on a post right now about what I’ve been doing to help me keep
I hope you’re all doing well though. I know its a scary time with a lot of uncertainty. My advice to you, try to focus on what you do have control over. Your actions and your attitude.
Like always, if any of you ever need someone that you can talk to or someone that will listen, my inbox/email/messages are always open.
Now, onto the post.
I normally try to keep these kind of posts on just instagram and facebook but there was too many “feel good” stories in my day to cram them all on there.
So as you all know, today is April Fools Day. So today, I went to work dressed like a biker. We’re talking tall black boots, all black clothes, a dark smokey eyes and a whole ton of eyeliner. Why you ask?
Today we turned our cart into a moving tattoo parlour.
We went door to door, knocking on all of the resident’s doors offering to give them a tattoo. Let me start by saying, some of them looked absolutely excited while others looked at us like we were absolutely crazy. I will say though, after some convincing, very few of the residents closed their doors without a tattoo.
When I got to one of the floors, I was joking with one of the men while he was finishing up his laundry about some of tattoo options we had. We were laughing away while he was sorting through the pile when he pointed to one, and said “hey, isn’t this the same as yours?”. Sure enough it was, he had come across a semicolon on one of the sheets.
He insisted on taking off his watch and putting it in the same spot mine was, inside of the left wrist. While putting it on him, in the exact same spot mine was, I told him about what it meant. When I was finished he grabbed my hand, held it and told me he wanted me to know I was appreciated. To say I was absolutely touched was an understatement.
A moment I will remember forever.
As I continued on throughout the halls a residents insisted I get one too, that the real tattoos I had just weren’t enough. She picked one out and then asked if she could pick the location too. Thinking she’d pick a spot like my arm or wrist I thought sure, why not! What could go wrong?
Well, the rest of the day I walked around with a rose tattoo right beside my eye. I mean, how could I possibly say no?
I couldn’t get over how much laughter these temporary tattoos brought. Residents were letting me tattoo them while talking on the phone to loved ones, heading back into their rooms to call their children and showing it off to all of the other staff and residents. The running joke being that they could fool their family and friends into thinking they had gotten real tattoos.
I got to the final floor I had to do and by this point the water in the bucket had cooled down meaning my hands were also a little cold. Before giving each resident a tattoo I made sure to give them a small warning.
I was doing one of my final tattoos when I reminded one of the ladies that my hands might be a little cold. Without missing a beat she said, “Your hands may be cold but I know that your heart is oh so warm”.
Sometimes, quarantine or not, days like today are needed. Laughter, smiles, feel good moments and a whole bunch of temporary tattoos. Hopefully some of these stories could help bring some positivity along with a smile or two to your face.