Ken Crowther, who turns 90 on December 19th, decided to get a tattoo he had been wanting since he was in his early twenties: a tribute to his wife who passed away 12 years ago after 50 years of marriage.
It was Ken’s granddaughter, Stephanie Shipley, along with her sister, Vickie, who took him to get the tattoo as a 90th birthday present.
Stephanie shared with LADbible:
“Myself, my sister and mum all have tattoos. Most of them were done in memory of our grandmother and our granddad always admired them.”
“When he was in the army the thing was to get a tattoo. His friends got them done whilst serving, but he was always too scared and just bottled out if it.”
“He knew what he wanted back then and it’s stuck in his memory to this day. He saw that we all have them and decided he should just do it. We all used the same tattoo artist. So my sister went ahead and booked the appointment for his in August to get his tattoo of his dreams.”
And while Ken has a fear of needles, he summoned the courage to finally get the tattoo he had been wanting for some time.
“He turns 90 in December, so this was a gift from us all and he is so happy with it. He spent a good hour explaining exactly how he wanted it doing, just how he imagined when he was in his early 20s,” Steph shared.
“He had to have it perfect. He was so precise how the text should look and where he wanted the initials. We all went along with his to hold his hand. He has a huge fear for needles. He’s battled cancer twice and 12 years ago was told he may not survive it. But he had his two great-grandchildren to look forward to and fought his way through it.
“He now has five great-grandchildren: Ava-Grace, 11, Jack, 11, Robyn, 5, Harvey, 3, and Alfred, 2.”
Ken and wife late wife, Phyllis, met in 1952. They had gone on a double date with Ken’s brother and Phyllis’ sister.
Steph said:
“He dated my grandma and his brother dated my grandma’s sister. They got married, as did his brother. They had a long happy marriage, celebrating their 50th anniversary before my grandma passed away in 2007.”
Ken is now living life to the fullest, getting tattoos and going on vacations. His granddaughter continued, saying:
“He has just paid for my mum and dad to go away with him to Corfu for two weeks as he wanted to make sure he had the chance to go – he is not sure if it would be his last.”
And while Ken has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, he is continuing to live his life and is currently contemplating another tattoo.
Steph continued, sharing:
“We are so proud of him and love him so much. He said he may get another tattoo. But who knows!”