Dear Darlings,

Most fighters pilots are given nicknames – callsigns – by their fellow fight pilots. Callsign: Viper, Callsign: Charlie, Callsign: Maverick…you get the idea.

I believe I have now been assigned a callsign by Claire. She asked me last week if I’d consider getting a mother-daughter tattoo with her. She explained that she saw this cool idea where both the mother and daughter write out a word, sentence or symbol that they think applies to the other. That writing is taken to a tattoo artist and then inscribed in ink. Permanently. I didn’t hesitate. I said yes.

I didn’t have to think long about what I would choose to have her draw for me. I knew. Sunshine. Determined Sunshine was a blog I wrote two years ago. It’s as true today as the day I wrote it. She is sunshine.

I asked her what she wanted. She said, “You know, you are the only one in the house who has a number assigned to them in my mind. You are the number five. Everything about you is the number five, because you are epicenter, the core, of the five of us. You made this family what it is. The five of us together.” My heart melted and a giant smile rose up inside of me. She went on to say, “And I also only assigned you a color. You are red.” I thought maybe it was because of my hair but she clarified, “Whenever we played Sorry as little kids you always wanted to be red, ‘because it’s a power color,’ you said.”

I’ll definitely take both of those. And I’ll roll them into one.

I am Callsign: Red Five.

Oh, for the love of my children…

xo,

me