Love On the Brain (Corey Crawford)

42| Just Like A Tattoo

Jessica

I'm not someone who is really into tattoos. I think the concept of having something on your body forever is scary. But after getting my dads dog tags and getting them nearly ten years too late, I realized that I wanted something to remind me of my father in case I can't have the dog tags on me like I haven't for a while. The best way to have a permanent reminder is to get a tattoo, so that's what I'm gonna do.

So I get a design drawn up and head over to the tattoo parlor that Corey said his friends go to. We go there and I make Corey come with me to get the tattoo because I was a wimp and wanted to hold his hand so I had something to squeeze.

"Your girlfriend is a champ" the tattoo artists says as he starts to detail my ankle. I got the tattoo right on the bone and I was starting to regret that decision.

"You can say that, she's not holding your hand" Corey whines and I let up a little.

"Sorry" I say as he squeezes my hand back.

"It's alright. You're being tougher than I am, I won't even get a tattoo" he admits.

"Did Corey help you design this tattoo" the artist asks and I laugh.

"He hasn't even seen what it is" I admit and Corey nods along.

"It's true. She made me wait until it was done to see it" he agrees.

"Who designed it" the artist wonders.

"I did" I say and he stops to look up at me.

"Seriously" he questions and I nod. "My god, you're a natural. I would let you tattoo me" he claims and I laugh.

"Do you have any room on your body left for another tattoo" I wonder. I mean the man was covered from what I can see.

"Not since I was 30" he admits and I laugh.

"Do all your tattoos have a meaning" I ask.

"They mean something. Not all good things but you kinda learn to live with the mistakes, it is permanent after all" he says.

"I don't believe in mistakes" I announces and he laughs.

"How is that possible" he questions.

"Oh, you're gonna love this" Corey claims as he smiles at his friend.

"In this life there's a purpose to everything. To say that something is a mistake is to say that something wasn't supposed to happen. But it is, it always is. There's no mistakes in this life we live. There's lessons and opportunities to grow. Nothing ever happens to you for no reason" I explain.

"Is that why I have a care bear on my right ass cheek" he asks and I laugh.

"Everything happens for a reason. You probably never got that drunk every again" I tease.

"Damn right" he chuckles.

"See. Everything is a lesson, yours is just now stuck to your butt cheek" I giggle.

"I've never thought of it that way. I wanted to get it covered but now I'm thinking I won't. I kinda like it and my wife thinks it's funny" he says.

"See. It all turns out alright in the end" I assure him.

He finishes up my tattoo and he cleans me up. I bring my ankle up to see how it looked and I smile big, it looked incredible.

I got the navy seal tattoo with my dads name and the day he passed under it. It was all black and white but it looked so realistic, like it was 3D. It was honestly awesome. Then in script under the navy seal tribute was the words "you're my favorite reason to live" with a little goalie stick on one side and a moon on the other side representing my two favorite reasons to go on.

Corey takes a good look at it and smile big. He see the goalie stick and turns to me.

"Is that my stick" he questions and I nod.

"Yeah, it is. Because besides my dad you're my favorite reason to be alive" I admit.

"Now I feel like I should get a tattoo for you" he claims.

"You don't have to. I was already getting one, but I knew that if it was going to be special I wanted it to be really special. It was something that meant a lot to me, that's why I did it" I explain.

"But you mean a lot to me, and no matter what you always will. I want something to show for it" he claims.

"What we have isn't something someone can see, it's something only you and I can feel. There's no tattoo for that" I insist.

"No. But I would love to get something that I can look at when I'm playing to remember that I'm strong, and when I'm not then you'll be strong for me" he explains.

"Like a anchor" I say and she stops. A smile comes up on his face as he nods.

"Yeah, like a anchor. And I can get it on my wrist so every time I take my glove off to get a drink I'll see it there and think of you. Think about how you hold me down, how no matter how strong the storm is you'll make me stronger" he says.

"That's beautiful Corey, but I still don't think you should do this unless you really want to" I insist.

"I do. I really do" he promises.

His friend says that he can get Corey done really quick since it was a simple anchor and shouldn't take too long. But Corey insisted he wanted to do this one by himself so I wait out in the waiting room. I look out the window on this beautiful day as I watch the day pass me by. Eventually Corey comes out with the biggest smile on his face, like he just won the Stanley cup or something. I get up and as soon as he reaches me he sticks his wrist in my face to show me what he did.

I see a really cool looking tattoo that looks like it would have taken longer than a hour to do. And when I look closer I see my name in the neck of the anchor and I smile to myself. Under it it said "you give me strength" and I honestly was about to cry.

"Oh Corey, it's beautiful" I whisper.

"I love it. I love it a lot actually. It hurt like a bitch but it's so worth it" he claims.

"What are you going to tell your mom" I ask and he laughs.

"Once I show her it's for you she won't care" he claims.

"Alright. So now what do we do" I question.

"We should probably go home and get Freddie so he doesn't completely destroy the place just because he's bored" he says and I nod. He had a good point.

We go home and I take Freddie out to use the bathroom and get some exercise. We return and I find Corey in our room. He was taking a picture of his tattoo and that made my heart happy. He hated needles, hence why he hadn't gotten one before. The fact that he would get a tattoo of me for me, well that means the world to me.