Wildflowers Forever
Tom Petty’s album Wildflowers means a lot to me. When it came out in 1994, I bought the album and played it over and over. My daughter grew up listening to this album.
When Tom passed away in 2017, it hit me hard. I had been listening to his station on Sirius XM for a while. I felt like I got to know him through his time on the air. I cried hard when I heard the news.
In 2021, there was a documentary about the making of the Wildflowers album. I took my daughter to see it. By the end, both my daughter and I felt we needed to get tattoos honoring him and the album that meant so much to us both.
I wanted the flower that was on the album cover, but I wanted something different than what other people had gotten. I brought the box set in and was able to get Tom’s handwriting incorporated into the tattoo along with some artwork from it.
It took a few sessions to get it finished, but it was so worth it. I was getting compliments on the tattoo even before it was finished. I got the tattoo in 2022, and I still get compliments on it all the time.
I love telling people that it is Tom’s handwriting tattooed on my arm. I have many tattoos, and each has a story and reason I got it—but this one is my favorite and most meaningful.