A woman recently took to TikTok to share the wholesome inspiration for her newest tattoo—and viewers couldn't get enough. The clip has gone massively viral on the platform, generating over 4.4 million views and 807,000 likes since it was shared late last week.
TikToker Emily McNeill wanted all four of her grandparents to contribute to the design of her newest tattoo, and she devised a sneaky way to get their help.
While tattoos remain controversial in some families, especially among older generations, honoring loved ones is a primary reason for people to get tatted in the first place. According to data compiled by Compare Camp, "43 percent of people get tattoos to honor their loved ones," whereas only "37 percent get tattoos for style and beauty."
"I got all of my grandparents to design my new tattoo without them knowing," wrote McNeill, using the video's on-screen captioning function. She reportedly gave them the instructions: "Draw a flower."
The following shots showed the TikToker providing each grandparent with a pencil and a stack of sticky notes. Upon the completion of their drawings, each grandparent presented their flower to the camera.
Once she collected each of their drawings, McNeill headed to a tattoo parlor and recorded the process of transforming the images into a tattoo. At the end of the video, the four flowers, arranged in a neat row, are shown permanently inked on the inside of her bicep.
"Like this video if you want me to film their reactions," concluded McNeill.
McNeill has yet to reveal her grandparents' reactions, but that didn't stop viewers from flooding the comments section with supportive messages.
"It's a beautiful way to keep your grandparents with you forever," wrote @shemart59. "It's awesome that you still have all four of them."
"I wish I had done something like this when I had the chance," said @rebekah_fagan.
Many more commented that the video left them "crying."
It appeared that McNeill's imaginative and meaningful design even won over the hearts of self-described tattoo-haters.
"I HATE tattoos but this is absolutely adorable," wrote @pets_on_set_ltd. "Imagine when they're gone how lovely it will be. What a great idea."
"This is the first tattoo I've been obsessed with," commented @jannatabdlh. "I love it."
Others said that they hoped to try the tactic on their own family members. "I'm doing this," wrote @toniceex. "I only have two [grandparents] left but this is beautiful. I'm also gonna ask my little one to do it."
Newsweek reached out to McNeill for comment.
