Lori Borgman: Introducing ink-redible grandmas

Lori Borgman, Tribune News Service on Mar 24, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Grandma is close at heart. Literally. And permanently.

A picture was in this morning’s paper of a young man proudly showing a tattoo of his beloved late grandma on his chest, along with a quote from her.

Sweet. Very, very sweet.

Naturally, with 11 grands, I ask myself, “What are the chances?”

At this stage of the game, the best I could hope for is a wild drawing of myself made by two 7-year-olds in possession of Sharpies.

The only experience our grands have with tattoos is the temporary press-on kind. They weren’t all that temporary. A set of fiesta tattoos left some of the grands plastered with tacos for weeks.

Truthfully, I don’t want my face tattooed on anyone’s body. Over time, skin thins, loses elasticity, succumbs to gravity and sags. A tattoo that looks like grandma today, may look like a giraffe 40 years from now. It could even be a guessing game: person, place or thing?

I was once in a line at the bank, standing behind an older woman wearing a cropped top exposing a large tattoo of an American flag on her lower back. Let’s just say the flag was waving.

It’s important to consider the long-range consequences of something as permanent as a tattoo. Will a tattoo of Grandma on your chest be a conversation starter at the pool? What happens when a romantic interest sees a tattoo of an older woman on your body and asks, “Who’s that?”

Plus, how do you rationalize a tattoo of Grandma and leave out Grandpa? A lot of grandmas and grandpas work hard at keeping things even between all the grands. And you’re not going to keep things even for them?

If you add a grandpa tattoo, won’t all the aunts and uncles bellyache because they weren’t included? Next thing you know, your entire body is covered with aunts, uncles, first cousins, second cousins and first cousins twice removed.

There is also the matter of choosing a quote to accompany the face of the beloved. I can only imagine what our grands would highlight from my repertoire.

“Come down from that tree NOW!”

“Who trashed the bathroom?”

“No frogs in the house!”

Or maybe, just maybe, they’ll remember me saying, “I love you to the moon and back.”

No need for a tattoo of this grandma. Just think of me when the moon shines bright.