Tracking his entire life, senior Ethan Morse received a tattoo in December.
Morse’s tattoo represents both places of which he has lived.
“My tattoo is a fluer de lis, with a bible verse over it,” Morse said. “I was born in New Orleans and the fluer de lis is the city symbol for New Orleans and then I moved to St. Louis, and it’s also a predominant symbol here. It’s really representative of my past.”
Along with the symbolic ties to the cities in which he has lived, Morse added a personal touch to his tattoo from his family.
“I have a bible verse [on the fluer de lis] from a key chain my grandma gave me when I first got my license, and it had this Bible verse on it,”Morse said. “I crashed my car and almost died and I still have the key chain. It’s definitely my favorite Bible verse.”
Morse’s current tattoo is his only, and he was surprised by the whole procedure of receiving a tattoo.
“It was funny because I went to the tattoo parlor and thought I’d just talk to the guy about what I was getting and set up a date,” Morse said. “I went in there, told him what I wanted, he sketched it out, and then twenty minutes later I’m on the table getting tatted.”
Upon physically receiving the tattoo, Morse was in for another surprise.
“Don’t get [a tattoo] on your ribs, because it was literally the most painful experience of my entire life,”Morse said. “I’ve had five knee surgeries and it was [still] the most painful thing in my entire life.”
While his tattoo has ties to his family, and was supported by his family, tattoos altogether are something that connects Morse further to his family now, and in the future.
“My cousin and I, who wants to be a tattoo artist after high school, are going to get a matching tattoo on the back of our arms, just because we’re really close,” Morse said.
While many choose to get a tattoo that simply looks cool on their bodies, Morse’s tattoo stands as a literal permanent reminders of what he holds close.
“My tattoo is one of those things that I am happy is on me forever; it’s always going to represent a part of my life that I don’t really ever want to forget,” Morse said. “It’s just very special and sentimental to me.”
