Though many can relate to the classic children’s book “Love You Forever,” it took on a special meaning for Alexandria Aruck. When she was growing up, her mom would read her the story almost every night.

Aruck’s favorite line in the story was, “I’ll love you forever, I’ll love you for always; As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.”

The saying became significant in the family — a phrase that they would say to each other all the time. Aruck’s mother even chose to print that quote in her senior yearbook.

Being so close to her family, Aruck, now a senior biology major, said she struggled to adjust to the college life. With all these changes going on in her life, Aruck decided to get a tattoo of the “Love You Forever” quote on her arm to feel as if her family was still with her.

Aruck at first did not want her parents to know that she was getting a tattoo. With help from her sister, she got the lines from her parents by telling them it was for a school project. Her mother wrote half of the quote, and her father wrote the other half. Aruck then took her parents’ handwriting and had it inked onto her left bicep in white ink.

“I got it in white because I wanted it to be less noticeable,” Aruck said.

White ink tattoos need to be treated more carefully than black ink tattoos — being so light already, they are very prone to fading. Additionally, people cannot usually get tattoos touched up after this fading occurs. In Aruck’s case, she could not get her tattoo touched up because the thin lettering would get blurred.

Connor Martin | Staff Photographer

Besides having this white ink tattoo, Aruck also has a black ink Celtic knot tattoo on her sternum that also represents her family. She got it on the anniversary of her uncle’s death because he passed away suddenly at a young age. Her mother, her grandma and two of her aunts have the same tattoo.

“I’m just really close with my family,” Aruck said. “I always have been. My aunts are like my second moms and my grandma and I are extremely close.”

Published on April 26, 2016 at 12:01 am

Contact: lmeyers@syr.edu