Mom let her teen daughter get a tattoo for a touching reason

Diana Register, a mother of four, has faced some backlash for allowing her 15-year-old daughter to get a tattoo. However, the decision wasn’t made in haste.

The tattoo Kaitlyn Register did was a way to honor and remember her father who had passed away. The teenager was only 13 when her father died.

Diana Register allowed her daughter Kaitlyn Register, 15, to get her first tattoo this year. Chad, her father, died of pancreatic cancer.

To honor her father, Diana's 22-year-old daughter decided to get a tattoo of his badge number, 149. The mother of four was touched by the heartfelt gesture by her daughter.

For more on this story go to our Twitter account @amomama_usa. However, a few years later, Kaitlyn asked to get the same tattoo.

Diana thought about her daughter’s request and decided she should be able to honor him in the same way. She allowed Kaitlyn to get Chad's badge number in Roman numerals on the inside of her left ankle.

However, not everyone agrees with the mother’s decision.

"I had one woman tell me that she's not old enough or mature enough to commit to a tattoo for a lifetime. She said I was giving into a 'grieving child.’”

Diana’s answer to the woman was that her daughter had already had a lifetime commitment of grief thrown in her lap. The young girl would need to live her entire life without her father.

The widow shared that her daughter had cared for her father and had to watch him die. She added that she was pretty sure that the young girl had developed maturity quite quickly and knows better what a “lifetime” is than most adults.

So for those reasons; the teenager would get to honor her father, however, she wants to.

"As far as the backlash, I feel like most everybody has been incredibly supportive of the way we have chosen to honor our hero. Many people can look past the stigma of a tattoo when it comes to the reason behind it, but there are still people who will judge in spite of it," Diana shared.

She also got a tattoo made to remember her late husband. His EKG was tattooed on her body so she could always have his heartbeat with her.

"We've experienced great loss, and we get to document and honor that however we want to, even if it doesn't align with whatever other people think," the mother further defended her decision.

She added that their grief had also taught them what is important and what isn't. Diana stated that people’s opinions were no longer important to her family and that has been liberating.

Tattoos are normally reserved for people over the age of 18, however, with a parent or guardian's permission artists will ink younger customers.