“The Party, the Tattoos, and the Thank You I Wanted.”

My daughter turned 23 this weekend, and I gathered friends, family, delicious food, and beauty to celebrate her.

I bought the ingredients for Aperol spritzes, ordered arancini for an appetizer, decorated the house with helium balloons, sunflowers, and anemones, and made Stan’s famous coleslaw along with her favorite mac and cheese. I worked hard, and I was thrilled to give her an evening that was all hers.

The next day, around 4 p.m., she texted me a photo of her new tattoos: a salt and a pepper shaker, inked in honor of her late father, who had a salt-and-pepper mustache.

She asked if I liked them.