I have 3 tatoos now & all but my 2nd have a very significant meaning to me... my 1st is in memory of my best friend that died in '97 since she was a year older & we were supposed to get our 1st tats together... but she was killed, a year passed, I turned 18, & I combined what both of us had planned to get (a butterfly & a mushroom) and had her initials put beside it. my 2nd is an insignificant memory of getting messed up in college & I wish it weren't there (although I get many compliments on it) & my 3rd represents "new life" after my diagnosis in 2000. all of my tats were post SI, & the thought of associating the 2 never crossed my mind... but I gotta admit the pain didn't phase me at all now that I think about it...