Meet Rebekah:
My
name is Rebekah Caylor. I am 44 years old. I have been happily married to Jeff
Caylor for 25 years, and I'm the mother of three amazing young ladies. I also am a
matron for the Bridgewater Police Department and the West Bridgewater Police
Department (and two other local police departments since I wrote this). I am the Race Director for the Bridgewater Police 5k and 1mi Kids
Fun Run,
and a part time student at Bridgewater State Unniversity.
I work with
the Guide Dog Foundation and Old Colony Correctional Center to help train and
socialize dogs to become service dogs for disabled veterans. See, my brother had
Multiple Sclerosis and needed a service dog. Since he lived in Illinois and I couldn’t
be there to help him on a day-to-day basis, being in evolved in the Vet Dog
Program was my way of showing support for what he had to face. And knowing
first hand the difference a service dog can make for someone, I knew it was a
program that I HAD to be involved in to help give back. And we are now helping
Animal Control by fostering kittens and helping to socialize them until they
can be placed in their “fur”ever homes. I
enjoying running and am training for both a Spartan Sprint (August 2015) and
for my first 1/2 marathon, hopefully in the fall of 2015 as well.
I met Ruth at the Bridgewater Memorial Day remembrance ceremony
in 2015. She noticed my tattoo and approached me about this project. I was and
am honored to be a part of it. I currently have five tattoos but will be getting
more.
Rebekah's Ink:
I remember being in Puerto Rico in 1993 with my husband and a
group of friends on vacation and we all, after too much tequila, considered
getting tattoos. I chickened out. And actually I think that everyone did on
that trip. They’ve always fascinated me and it’s
very cool that everyone has a story for each one. They are deeply personal and
a great conversation starter.
My first tattoo is a blue morpho butterfly. They are native to
Costa Rica. I got this tattoo when I was 30. My husband and I went to Costa
Rica for our 10th anniversary, which happened to be the same year that I turned
30. I loved the photo I found of a real one and carried it around for months
looking at it daily before I was really ready to put it on my body. A friend
was throwing a tattoo party at Inflicting Ink in Rhode Island and I figured
that was the perfect time to get it done.
I love it. I love looking at it, in a mirror, and remembering the
time we spent in Costa Rica and how much I love my husband. We just celebrated
our 25th anniversary in May 2015.
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| Happy 25th |
Rich, at Inflicting Ink lined the butterfly up so perfectly and
meticulously with my spine that when I was giving birth to Callie and had to
have an epidural the anesthesiologist used it to help guide the needle. He
approached me later and asked if he could take pictures of my back, with a
pretend epidural in for an article that he was writing for a medical journal
about how tattoos can be helpful for that specific reason. I don’t
know if he ever published it, but it’s kinda cool to think that my back
might be in some random medical journal somewhere.
My next 3 tattoos represent the three gifts that God has given us.
Our daughters.
Lily (Lillian) is first and oldest. She is named after my
grandmother and great-grandmother. See before having Lily, we had an ectopic
pregnancy that resulted in the loss of my left tube. The doctor told me that I
had maybe a 2 percent chance of ever getting pregnant without medical intervention.
Well, I’ve always been stubborn and one to challenge the odds. Meet,
Lily and Callie! Our 2 percenters!
Lily was born in March 2004. I don’t remember the
specific date that I got the tattoo, but it was done by Joe Staska at Broad St.
Tattoo, right here in Bridgewater. I got calla lilies put on the sides of the
blue morpho because I’ve always loved that type of lily and
it seemed to fit.
Callie came along not too long after Lily. There is only 16
1/2 months between them. (So much for the doctors being right!) I love turtles.
When we went to Costa Rica went went during the rainy season just so we could
see the green turtles come up on the beach to lay their eggs. I have a pretty
copper dish that we got on a trip to Hawaii, before having children, and it’s
got a turtle inlaid with shells. That’s what Joe, again from Broad St.
Tattoo, used to make the turtle image that is representative of my Callie girl.
Tattoo #4 is my yellow rose for Ashley. We call her Lil’ A.
Her middle name is Rose and she loved yellow. Now she loves Elsa and Frozen so
her new “favorite” color is “Elsa Blue”,
but I’m not getting the tattoo changed to match her whims. Roses
for tattoos seem like a common theme. I know we all have our reasons for the
images we choose to put on ourselves. Mine is currently 7 and about to finish
1st grade. Joe designed this tattoo too.
My 5th tattoo is in memory of my brother. He passed away
December 20, 2013 after a long battle with Multiple Sclerosis. This disease
ravaged his body for 20 years. Taking away his career, his mobility and his eye
sight. But what it gave him was powerful. He leaves behind an amazing story.
See my brother never, never wavered in his faith in Christ. His life verse was
part of 2 Corinthians 12:9. “My grace is sufficient for you, for My
power is made perfect in weakness.” Something that my brother said
all the time was, “If God brings you to it, He’ll
bring you through it.” What
a wonderful statement of his faith in God. Despite every medical crisis and
every challenge that he faced, he never lost faith. He knew that his time on
this earth was only temporary and that when he got to heaven he would have a
perfect, whole, new body waiting for him.
We weren’t really close. He lived in Champaign,
IL. He leaves behind a wife and two sons. But his life is an example to others
and I couldn’t think of a better way to honor his life and his legacy
than to remind myself everyday of his faith, and it may sound trite, but to “wear
my heart on my sleeve.” I hope that I can be half the
example he was. His positive outlook on life, despite his infirmities, is a
daily reminder to me that no matter what I am facing, I’ve got it easy.
When I look at my shoulder, I am sad that he is gone, but grateful for the life
he lived.
