mka06
LIF Adult
Member since 8/06 1079 total posts
Name:
Melis
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Miami Ink Tonight -- touching episode
Check out the following article on tonight's Miami Ink episode. The story is so touching -- the guy lost his 32 year old wife, and their unborn baby, 2 months after she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  Heartbreaking.
As someone who just lost my Dad from this disease, I am excited the disease will get some air time on a popular show.... we need more awareness!
Edited to add --- the tat is really cool. There is a pic if you view the story online.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/113/story/140862.html
A permanent reminder and hope for the future
By AMY KUPERINSKY
Published: Thursday, April 24, 2008
Ellen Lichtenstein pulled a tape out of the pile. A casting associate producer for the TLC show "Miami Ink," all she did everyday was interview candidates for the show, in which people are given tattoos by tattoo artists at a Miami Beach shop.
The was about to resume after a hiatus as Lichtenstein started to tackle a pile of 100 tapes. She reached the tape for James Smith, and it did not work. So she got on the phone.
"He was one of the very first people I looked at," she said. "I called him up and once I heard his story he became one of my personal projects."
But why Smith? At one point, Lichten-stein had vetted as many as 50,000 applicants for the popular reality series.
"You get to a point where you can tell," she said. "A young guy with his life ahead of him, with the love of his life," she recalled. "They were about to have a baby, everything seemed perfect."
Smith made a new tape. In it, he told of how his wife had died of pancreatic cancer, before she could give birth to the couple's child. The child, too, died. Now Smith wanted a tattoo to serve as a memorial.
It was a compelling story.
Still, a casting director told Lichtenstein that the story, and Smith's tattoo idea - originally a Celtic cross with a baby's footprint - wouldn't cut it.
"It's our responsibility when we have a chance to do something positive with a TV show, to figure out a way to make it work for the show," Lichtenstein said.
So, she talked with Smith, who also has a small tattoo on his other arm of a Japanese character that means "live for today," and reworked his tattoo design. He would be paired with Ami James, co-owner of the shop and a tattoo artist who specializes in koi fish. For Smith, that idea worked, since koi can represent strength and perseverance, something he said he'd need everyday to continue after the loss of his wife.
Smith, 30, of Pitman, used to work as a manager at Bonefish Grill in Egg Harbor Township. Now regional service and beverage director of training for the restaurants and based in Deptford, his trip to Miami for the show was a first. The "Miami Ink" episode documenting his trip and inking, airs at 10 tonight on TLC.
"I'd never taken a trip by myself, anywhere, for pleasure," he said, and calls himself a big fan of the show.
"I had hoped that they would pick me," said Smith. "I couldn't have been more excited. I had hoped and hoped and hoped."
With the tattoo now at home on the upper portion of his right arm, Smith can talk about its relevance as being directly connected to his late wife, Katherine Point Smith. She passed away on Nov. 25, 2006, when she was 32.
Smith said he had mentioned getting a tattoo to his wife before she died, though it was a different design. She liked the idea, since she had tattoos herself.
When talking with Lichtenstein, he found meaning in the story of a koi swimming up the Yellow River, transforming into a dragon. His wife also found value in transformation.
A marriage and family therapist, Katherine Point Smith first worked in Tallahassee, Fla., and later with at-risk youth, foster kids and families, in Burlington and Gloucester counties.
"She loved the idea of people being something and still being able to change into something better," said Smith. "She loved to see them when they were first started and to be able to see them grow and change into kids the parents actually love and see the parents grow into better parents."
In the tattoo, a butterfly rests on a lotus flower, one of two. One is a full bloom, the other a bud, to represent the child he and his wife lost. Bright orange and red koi fish swim up his arm while the teal and purple lotuses sit on top. "Once they reach the light, they bloom and represent the beautiful flower, Katie," he said.
"Once I told them (the show's producers) that, they loved the idea," said Smith, who went to South Beach, Miami, twice, first in September and then in October for a color fill, in order to complete the tattoo.
"We had to make sure that the art would be something he really wanted," said Lichtenstein.
James, the artist, tattooed directly onto Smith's skin instead of using a stencil, hand drawing most of the design. "Parts he didn't draw, he tattooed," said Smith. "It was surreal."
A fan of butterflies, Katie - as Smith calls her -also approved the idea of a butterfly release planned for the spring after her death. "She was such a planner," said Smith, who asked if she wanted a party with friends to celebrate her life, or the butterfly release. "She said, 'I want both.'" The release, held on her birthday, turned into a fundraiser, said Smith, who raised a couple thousand dollars for pancreatic cancer just by putting out a donation box that day.
"Without even trying, we were able to raise a little chunk of money," he said. "I wanted to do something more to help people. Pancreatic cancer is so underfunded and it's a killer. You pretty much know you're going to die." Katie died just two months after her diagnosis. Smith's hope is that, as with breast cancer, in the future, a diagnosis will not mean a death sentence.
Smith will watch the episode for the first time tonight, and is wary of looking like that "crazy crying man on TV," but knows the show will be a good vehicle for spreading awareness about pancreatic cancer.
"I wanted to be able to help fight for that cause. To me, it has to start somewhere," he said. "'Miami Ink' has a worldwide audience and it reaches such an eclectic group of people."
"It made a great show and his story was really compelling to everyone," said Lichtenstein. Friends have been following Katie's story after Smith started a blog when she was sick. "They've been waiting and waiting and now everyone's all excited," said Smith.
Message edited 4/24/2008 2:24:02 PM.
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mka06
LIF Adult
Member since 8/06 1079 total posts
Name:
Melis
|
Re: Miami Ink Tonight -- touching episode
I initially had the same thought when I read about the design change. But after reading the article again, I think that though they made him change the design that he did have a lot of input into the new one, the butterflies, etc..
" In the tattoo, a butterfly rests on a lotus flower, one of two. One is a full bloom, the other a bud, to represent the child he and his wife lost. Bright orange and red koi fish swim up his arm while the teal and purple lotuses sit on top. "Once they reach the light, they bloom and represent the beautiful flower, Katie," he said.
Once I told them (the show's producers) that, they loved the idea," said Smith,
Ultimately though, I think what's most important is that he is happy with the outcome and that someone who has gone through an awful experience and wanted to be on the show for an extremely personal and meaningful reason had the chance.
I can't wait to watch!
Message edited 4/24/2008 2:44:02 PM.
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