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Parent-child tattoos like the one Billy Bush got bond family in ink, spirit

When Billy Bush and his wife Sydney got matching tattoos with their daughter Josie for her birthday, they joined a trend in family bonding.
/ Source: TODAY Contributor

These days, family ties can come in all kinds of forms...including ink.

TODAY's new third hour co-host Billy Bush and his wife, Sydney Davis, recently decided to grant their oldest daughter Josie's 18th birthday wish and get matching tattoos with her: tiny crosses on the inside of their wrists.

"This is the most painful process in the world," admitted Bush in an interview with TODAY's Tamron Hall and Al Roker, but Hall noted that it was a "family bond."

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Turns out, other families have the same idea. We asked fans of TODAY Parents' Facebook page if any of them had family tattoos as well, and the results were both meaningful and creative.

Rhonda DeMaso Hines showed off "mom and daughter matching ink" in the form of feathers.

Rhonda DeMaso Hines and her daughter have matching feathers.
Rhonda DeMaso Hines and her daughter have matching feathers.Rhonda DeMaso Hines/Facebook

Kendra Cagle said she and her mother always text "LYL" or "love you lots" at the end of their conversations, so they got tattoos bearing the words in each other's handwriting.

Kendra Cagle's meaningful matching tattoo bears her mother's handwriting.
Kendra Cagle's meaningful matching tattoo bears her mother's handwriting.Kendra Cagle/Facebook

Melissa Underwood had to drive to another state to get a matching tattoo with her daughter when she turned 17, as South Carolina's laws forbid them before the age of 18. She says she will do it with her younger daughter when she is old enough.

Melissa Underwood and her daughter had to drive from South Carolina to Florida to get matching tattoos when her daughter was 17.
Melissa Underwood and her daughter had to drive from South Carolina to Florida to get matching tattoos when her daughter was 17.Melissa Underwood/Facebook

And the trend is not just for parents. Margie Branch posted a picture of her and her granddaughter getting their first tattoos for her granddaughter's 18th birthday... when Margie was 54.

Margie Branch and her granddaughter with their first tattoos at ages 18 and 54.
Margie Branch and her granddaughter with their first tattoos at ages 18 and 54.Margie Branch / Facebook

Bush said he hopes that when younger daughters Mary and Lillie each turn 18, they will join in on the family tattoo bond. But when Roker suggested that Bush better hope Mary and Lillie don't ask for family body piercings instead, Bush seemed a little frightened by the idea. "I am not comfortable with a body piercing as of yet," he said, "But that may change."

Never say never, Billy!