Lettering tattoo on a forearm of the state of Wisconsin outlined in black, with a handwritten quote inside and a small red heart near the bottom.

Wisconsin state outline with handwritten quote

Lettering · Forearm · Mixed · Photo

The tattoo is a black outline of the state of Wisconsin with a handwritten quote in black script filling the shape, reading "A home is a place you grow up wanting to leave and grow old wanting to get back to." A small solid red heart sits at the lower right edge of the outline. The lines are even and the photograph is taken straight on, with a teal top visible at the left edge of the frame.

Lettering Forearm State outline Map Quote Heart Handwriting

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Take it to an artist as a reference. A good artist will make it yours rather than copy someone else's tattoo.

A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Teddy, Mom says the heifers have gone off their feed since Tuesday, so I'm writing this on the tailgate of the feed truck while Dad wrestles the gate at the south pasture. The sky over Dodge County has been the colour of wet slate all week, and the milk price dropped again, so nobody says much at supper anymore. I found your old Packers cap in the mudroom with the sweat stain shaped like a lake. I didn't know whether to bin it or post it to you.

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You asked on the phone whether you should come home for Christmas, and I didn't give you an answer. The truth is I drove back from the co-op on Sunday and crossed the county line without thinking, and my shoulders dropped like they'd been braced since August. A state can look so small on a map and then fill the whole windscreen. I used to colour in the outline with your crayons while you were out back chasing the barn cats, remember? You always went over the lines.

You said at the diner in June that Milwaukee was the first place you'd felt like a grown man, and that a home was something you'd have to outgrow. Maybe you're right. Dad says the north roof needs two more sheets of tin before the snow, and that you're welcome to come hold the ladder, though he'd never say it himself. He's been saying your name at the table when he thinks nobody can hear.

Come home when the ice goes out on Rock Lake. The porch light is on a timer now, so you won't need to knock. Bring the cap if you want it back. Love, Ruth.