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Tattoo artist Mark Ayers prepares to place a design on 100-year-old Araminta “Mitzi” Bythewood of Cleveland. (Photo courtesy Ashlyn Turner) -
Araminta “Mitzi” Bythewood (Photo/Wayne Hardy) -
Bythewood chose forget-me-not flowers for her tattoo. (Top photo courtesy Ashlyn Turner)
What would you do to celebrate turning 100 years old?
For Araminta “Mitzi” Bythewood of Cleveland, it was getting a tattoo.
The journey to getting inked up began in December when Bythewood was making one of her weekly visits to Southern & Sassy Salon. That’s when co-owner Ashlyn Turner, who has styled Bythewood’s hair for the past four years, asked what her longtime customer wanted for her birthday milestone in March.
Bythewood eventually noticed the tattoo on Turner’s wrist – and wanted her own.
“It didn’t take me three seconds to say yes,” Bythewood said. “It sounded like a good idea, and it was far enough away for it not to be all that serious.
“And why not?”
As months passed, the idea persisted.
“I kind of thought she was joking at first, but every week she would say ‘I’ve been thinking about what tattoo I want,’” Turner said.
When the time came, staff and customers held a celebration for Bythewood at the salon, followed by lunch with Turner before heading to Main Street Tattoo in Helen. She chose to get forget-me-not flowers on the back of her left shoulder.
Tattoo artist Mark Ayers did the honors, making Bythewood the oldest person the 33-year-old ever worked on. (Previously, it was an 82-year-old.)
Ayers was touched by the appreciation for artistry shown by Bythewood, who herself has painted as a hobby.
“She was the sweetest woman,” he said. “She did great and acted like it didn’t even hurt her.”
Bythewood, a former newspaper reporter and high school English teacher, said she wasn’t fazed by the tattoo needle.
“I’ve never been nervous at all. I’m just not a nervous person, for one thing,” she said. “The little pain it caused when it was being done was not bad at all.”
Turner said others who know Bythewood at salon couldn’t believe she went through with it.
“They kind of thought she might change her mind ahead of time,” she said. “She’s definitely an inspiration to a lot of people.”
As far as her own family goes, Bythewood said a few weeks passed before she had the chance to mention it to her son, who lives nearby.
“When I finally got an opportunity … he just broke out in a smile,” she said with a laugh.
Now on her way to her next birthday, Bythewood doesn’t had to think long when asked about her plans for next year.
She cracks a smile and talks about her tattoo.
“We’ll extend this.”