Steve from Maryland wrote: “In late 2022, I was hospitalized for a kidney stone that resulted in a very serious infection. By the time I was admitted to the hospital, I was already in acute sepsis shock. Initially, my medical team was unsure I would survive. Thankfully, I responded to excellent medical care and never looked back. I was in the hospital for over two weeks and when I got home, I could barely walk. With strength and determination, I worked tirelessly to recover. It has been over a year - I walk between 3 – 4 miles a day, work, play pickleball, and live a normal life.“⁠
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“I never, ever lost the will to live - never. I love life. And my strength is for not only me, but my wife, Debbie, my children, grandchildren, friends and my doctors. One day in the hospital, I told Debbie that when I recover, I would like to get a tattoo expressing how grateful I am to be alive, that I have the strength and will to live. Her response was, go for it!” ⁠
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While talking with him, Steve mentioned that he discussed this “project” with his very creative niece to help him with ideas. She told him about the Modeh Ani and she was spot on! Modeh Ani translates to, “I give thanks.” It is a prayer recited in the morning, expressing gratitude for being alive and acknowledging the revival of one’s soul. It allows you to start the day with great appreciation. Steve recites the Modeh Ani every morning. To him, that prayer means the same as the tattoo was going to mean. And so that is the wording we used. ⁠
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I ended up drawing a piece about the positive force of the divine (or sunlight, as Steve preferred to phrase it), coming into his life and perception, changing the flow of a rigid, every day and sometimes struggling existence. While the form itself, the rigid and maybe caging experience of recovery doesn’t change, the internal flow of it changes completely by letting the soul reenter and provide that energy and thankfulness into his everyday existence. His tattoo is all being grateful, positive and for the gift of life.⁠