There was an importunate sense in her voice as she tugged on my shirt and looked up at me. “Mommy,” she whined, “I want a rattoo.”

The statement should have surprised me. It would surprise most parents of a four-year-old girl. But for me, I knew it was just a matter of time before Ash started asking for a tattoo, oh, and piercings, too. B and I knew this day was coming, just not this soon. But as those words escaped her mouth, I wondered how many times over the next 14 or so years that I would hear that sentence. Then I stopped to count how many times I heard it from B over the last 14 or so years.

Read More