I've (Kinda, Sorta) Been Immortalized

(Note: I'm waiting for my laundry to dry so I can start packing. I figured I'd do some updates while I wait.)

This is going to be one of those posts with a lot of backstory prior to the punchline. I'll try to keep it brief, but, hey, it's my blog, and the only other involved party has given me the green light to post it, so there you go. (If it comes down, those who remember reading it but can no longer find it will know she changed her mind.)

Ok, backstory...

For almost ten years I was a faux-father-figure to my partner's daughter. Partner and I got together when I was in grad school, she was doing an undergrad degree, and daughter was eight years old. Our little family unit moved around Iowa City as school progressed, landed in Seattle when school was over, hung out for a few years, and then completely exploded as family units sometimes do. 

Life happened, nearly ten years went by, and I got cancer and started this blog. Daughter found the blog and reached out, and for the past few weeks we've been hanging out every now and then and catching up.

It's been great. And for a bazillion reasons. One of those reasons is that it's illustrated how weird memory is. Most significantly, faux-daughter (FD) has recollections of things that I either can't remember at all or have completely forgotten, except that as soon as she mentions it it all comes flooding back. In the latter category is the phrase "be safe, have fun, learn something." At some point in our relationship, that's what I said to FD whenever she was headed out to camp or overnights or whatever. At the time, it was just something to say, but it's one of the things that seems to have resonated with FD. So much so that the other day she asked if I would write it out so that she could have it inked in my hand on her body. 

How cool is that? This thing you said without a whole lot of thought turns into something that's important enough to someone that they want to get it tattooed on their arm. I was actually kind of floored by the idea. There are certainly worse ways to be remembered, and worse things to be remembered for, and I was stunned that the FD wanted to do this.

So tonight the FD came over to get the low-down on Kevin (she lives close by so has agreed to ensure Kevin doesn't starve to death while I'm bonding with penguins), and decided that tonight was the night to get her newest tattoo. I went along to watch. 

So here it is. Some faux-fatherly advice, written out in my tiny crabbed hand and embedded in the skin of the person who is the closest I ever came to offspring. All things considered, this may now qualify as the thing I'm proudest of.