Nursing home residents get temporary ink; 'I never thought I'd have a tattoo'

Residents at Trenton Village Assisted Living Facility enjoyed a wild day when they received temporary tattoos.

Ruth Gerstner, 88, chose to have a small rose on her arm.

"Everybody said 'She'll never do it,' but I picked out a little one and it was real cute," she said.

Daniel Haselhorst, 73, picked the biggest tattoo that was offered.

"Well I'll tell you what. I took the big one, like a dummy!" Haselhorst said.

With COVID-19 and quarantine, workers at the facility had to think outside the box on how to keep their residents entertained.

"It's been hard on all of the communities across the board with assisted livings, nursing homes, so we kind of just came up with an idea and started running with it," Assistant Executive Director Alyssa Madden said.

The seniors chose from washable flowers, animals and bows and placed the tattoos on their arms, feet and even forehead.

"It was different because I never thought I'd have a tattoo. My family was shocked that I did. But they thought it was funny," Gerstner said.

Not every resident was as enthusiastic about the idea at first.

"At first they were kind of questioning even coming into the activity room until they kept seeing more and more come in," CNA Austin Nettles said.

"Some of them were like 'What is my pastor going to say?' So we had to reassure them that it would wash off," Madden said.

Even after some convincing, the residents enjoyed their new temporary ink.

"Well I think everyone was happy that they had one, and I think we all enjoyed doing it," said Penny Crouch, 87.