The Rose Tattoo

“You must have control of the authorship of your own destiny. The pen that writes your life story must be held in your own hand.”

Irene C Cassorla

42 years ago my mom and dad started to tell their little girl a story. 

It was about a “good girl” who ate all her veggies, and went to bed early.  She made straight A’s, sang in the choir and volunteered at the nursing home.  They said good girls didn’t smoke, or drink or do drugs.  They didn’t have sex before marriage and they were expected to be in the front pew of The First United Methodist Church with their family every Sunday morning. 

They said I was a good girl as long as I stayed on the confined pages of their book. 

 

It wasn’t long before other characters entered the story and started writing for the grown up woman she had become.  They told her that “good people” work night and day, and they volunteer, and keep themselves healthy and fit.  They said she would be happy if she married, and had kids.  Oh, and she should have a nice big house that she cleaned feverishly before dinner parties and BBQ’s. 

 

But the woman became bored with the story that others were writing for her, and decided to write her own.  She could not type fast enough about the adventure and drama; passion and romance that would be her future.    She finally understood what Don Miguel meant when he said that the “impact of others opinions and reactions become a very strong force in the habits we create.”  She knew that other people’s assumptions and opinions were no longer her truth.

 

The rose tattoo on her side is there to remind her of her quest for personal freedom, and the beautiful life that will blossom and grow when she is the writer of her own destiny.