+
upworthy
More

Here's the meaning behind the viral 'Lucky Few' tattoo.

There are a lot of reasons to get a tattoo — to honor a loved one, visualize a spiritual or life goal, or just for the aesthetic appeal.

(They do look pretty cool, after all.)


Tattoos can also symbolize that you belong to and identify deeply with a certain group — like the recently famous semicolon tattoo that denotes a person's battle with depression or suicidal thoughts.

Now a group of moms is banding together with their own tattoos that symbolize their family's experience with Down syndrome.

A group of these moms recently met up at a Ruby's Rainbow retreat — a nonprofit that raises funds to get people with Down syndrome the education and training they need to succeed in the world — when they decided to get matching tattoos to commemorate their unique bond.

Designer Mica May was among those in the group, and she came up with a concept on the spot: three arrows stacked on top of one another.

They decided to call it the "Lucky Few" tattoo in reference to a popular book about Down syndrome.

Photo via missdaleyteachessped/Instagram,​ used with permission

In an Instagram post, May wrote that the concept had come to her in a dream, though she initially wasn't sure what it meant.

The other moms noticed that the number three seemed to be incredibly symbolic of Down syndrome, also called trisomy 21, in which children are born with three copies of the 21st chromosome.

This genetic irregularity puts people affected by Down syndrome at greater risk for certain health conditions and presents different challenges for them in the way they learn and move through the world.

Down syndrome affects about 6,000 babies in the United States ever year.

Photo via savannaculpepper.fit/Instagram​, used with permission

Now the movement is going viral, with parents, teachers, and loved ones of people with Down syndrome all over the country joining in.

People who admit they never thought they'd get a tattoo are going under the needle to show their love and support for people affected by the syndrome.

[rebelmouse-image 19533797 dam="1" original_size="1034x1189" caption="Photo via cay_young_/Instagram, used with permission" expand=1]Photo via cay_young_/Instagram, used with permission

Hundreds are taking to Instagram using the hashtag #theluckyfewtattoo to share their photos and stories.

[rebelmouse-image 19533798 dam="1" original_size="1080x1076" caption="Photo via kaiandmal/Instagram, used with permission." expand=1]Photo via kaiandmal/Instagram, used with permission.

Some parents have even organized mass tattoo-ing events in their area.

The Mighty reports that one group in California had over 260 local moms sign up to get the tattoo at the same local shop.

[rebelmouse-image 19533799 dam="1" original_size="4288x2848" caption="Photo by Nicole Eliason Photography, used with permission." expand=1]Photo by Nicole Eliason Photography, used with permission.

[rebelmouse-image 19533801 dam="1" original_size="4047x2688" caption="Photo by Nicole Eliason Photography, used with permission." expand=1]Photo by Nicole Eliason Photography, used with permission.

Parenting a child with Down syndrome can be a tremendously difficult challenge. It can also be extremely rewarding.

The difficulties can be vast, but one survey found that parents of children with Down syndrome self-reported that their outlook on life was more positive than before, with the experience teaching them new depths of love and compassion.

Elle Westover, who shared her own tattoo on Instagram recently, put it like this: "The Arrows, because we can only launch forward after we have been pulled back and stretched."

[rebelmouse-image 19533802 dam="1" original_size="1080x1350" caption="Photo via ellewestover/Instagram, used with permission" expand=1]Photo via ellewestover/Instagram, used with permission

There's no overestimating how much a sense of belonging can help people through hard times. The Lucky Few Tattoo is a constant, visual reminder for these parents of why the challenges are worth it.

A pitbull stares at the window, looking for the mailman.


Dogs are naturally driven by a sense of purpose and a need for belonging, which are all part of their instinctual pack behavior. When a dog has a job to do, it taps into its needs for structure, purpose, and the feeling of contributing to its pack, which in a domestic setting translates to its human family.

But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

Keep ReadingShow less
Representative Image from Canva

Let's not curse any more children with bad names, shall we?

Some parents have no trouble giving their children perfectly unique, very meaningful names that won’t go on to ruin their adulthood. But others…well…they get an A for effort, but might want to consider hiring a baby name professional.

Things of course get even more complicated when one parent becomes attached to a name that they’re partner finds completely off-putting. It almost always leads to a squabble, because the more one parent is against the name, the more the other parent will go to bat for it.

This seemed to be the case for one soon-to-be mom on the Reddit AITA forum recently. Apparently, she was second-guessing her vehement reaction to her husband’s, ahem, avant garde baby name for their daughter, which she called “the worst name ever.”

But honestly, when you hear this name, I think you’ll agree she was totally in the right.

Keep ReadingShow less

An English doctor named Edward Jenner took incredible risks to try to rid his world of smallpox. Because of his efforts and the efforts of scientists like him, the only thing between deadly diseases like the ones below and extinction are people who refuse to vaccinate their kids. Don't be that parent.

Unfortunately, because of the misinformation from the anti-vaccination movement, some of these diseases have trended up in a really bad way over the past several years.

Keep ReadingShow less

A beautiful cruise ship crossing the seas.

Going on a cruise can be an incredible getaway from the stresses of life on the mainland. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t an element of danger when living on a ship 200-plus feet high, traveling up to 35 miles per hour and subject to the whims of the sea.

An average of about 19 people go overboard every year, and only around 28% survive. Cruise ship lawyer Spencer Aronfeld explained the phenomenon in a viral TikTok video, in which he also revealed the secret code the crew uses when tragedy happens.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

Kudos to the heroes who had 90 seconds to save lives in the Key Bridge collapse

The loss of 6 lives is tragic, but the dispatch recording shows it could have been so much worse.

Representative image by Gustavo Fring/Pexels

The workers who responded to the Dali's mayday call saved lives with their quick response.

As more details of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore emerge, it's becoming more apparent how much worse this catastrophe could have been.

Just minutes before 1:30am on March 26, shortly after leaving port in Baltimore Harbor, a cargo ship named Dali lost power and control of its steering, sending it careening into a structural pillar on Key Bridge. The crew of the Dali issued a mayday call at 1:26am to alert authorities of the power failure, giving responders crucial moments to prepare for a potential collision. Just 90 seconds later, the ship hit a pylon, triggering a total collapse of the 1.6-mile bridge into the Patapsco River.

Dispatch audio of those moments shows the calm professionalism and quick actions that limited the loss of life in an unexpected situation where every second counted.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

Yale's pep band had to miss the NCAA tournament. University of Idaho said, 'We got you.'

In an act of true sportsmanship, the Vandal band learned Yale's fight song, wore their gear and cheered them on.

Courtesy of University of Idaho

The Idaho Vandals answered the call when Yale needed a pep band.

Yale University and the University of Idaho could not be more different. Ivy League vs. state school. East Coast vs. Pacific Northwest. City vs. farm town. But in the first two rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament, extenuating circumstances brought them together as one, with the Bulldogs and the Vandals becoming the "Vandogs" for a weekend.

When Yale made it to the March Madness tournament, members of the school's pep band had already committed to other travel plans during spring break. They couldn't gather enough members to make the trek across the country to Spokane, Washington, so the Yale Bulldogs were left without their fight song unless other arrangements could be made.

When University of Idaho athletic band director Spencer Martin got wind of the need less than a week before Yale's game against Auburn, he sent out a message to his band members asking if anyone would be interested in stepping in. The response was a wave of immediate yeses, so Martin got to work arranging instruments and the students dedicated themselves to learning Yale's fight song and other traditional Yale pep songs.

Keep ReadingShow less