Two weeks ago, Axios CEO Jim VandeHei wrote about getting his first tattoo and invited readers to tell us about their own ink.

• Why it matters: As dozens of you told us, tattoos can be a powerful way to express to others — and remind ourselves — what's important to us.

Here's a selection of the inspiring stories behind your tattoos — and some photos of the art...

🏃‍♂️ "I received my first and only tattoo in 2019. I'm a distance runner, but the mountains also symbolize how running helps me with my generalized anxiety. I took a picture of it while exploring the fjords in Norway." —Dan DeBaun, Minnetonka, Minn.

🌺 "My first tattoo was after a brutal series of surgeries for bilateral breast cancer. The surgeries left me with a scar that ran from the back of each armpit, across each breast, ending 1.5 inches apart."

• "Needless to say, the scars were ugly and a daily reminder of the most difficult experience of my life. After two years, it seemed easier to have a tattoo than stare at the scars. So [I got] two vines with fuchsia flowers and a hummingbird on each. The result still makes me smile — 13 years later." —Christine Roth, Lake Oswego, Ore.

📚 "I got my first tattoo when I turned 50. It's a quote from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' ... I'm 5'0" and have lived a life of resilience, passion and purpose!" —Marie Gettel-Gilmartin, Portland, Ore.

🛹 "Almost one year ago, my son suffered a near fatal fentanyl overdose. He should, according to ALL the experts, be dead, or at least completely disabled. His recovery was a miracle, and among the first words he said when he could speak again were: 'Love ya, Pops.' ... That's the way he would sign off on phone calls prior to the overdose."

• "His passion is longboarding, and I've commemorated that miracle on my left forearm." —Pat Stanton, Aurora, Colo.

🕯️ "I never thought I'd be a tattoo person. But driving home 14 years ago from the funeral of my niece who had died in a car accident a week before her 17th birthday inspired me to get her initials inked on my left ankle as a daily reminder of her special place in my life. I was 50 at the time. Still my only tattoo." —Brad Bolin, Minneapolis

This terrific tattoo tale comes from Mark McKinnon, a creator and co-star of "The Circus" — and a Finish Line reader:

• "In 2004, I found myself in a greenroom in Arizona helping George W. Bush prepare for a debate. John McCain was serving as host and coach. In the corner was a television and a news report came on. It told the story of an NFL player who was fined by the commissioner for displaying the number 40 on a patch on his uniform to honor a fallen former teammate, Pat Tillman, who had been tragically killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan."
• "The news clip cut to McCain, who was putting the commissioner through an acid bath. I went up to McCain and said: 'Senator, I appreciate what you said in that clip. I was so moved by Tillman's sacrifice that I had his number 40 tattooed on my shoulder.' It's my one and only tattoo — most people think I got drunk on my 40th birthday."

"McCain said, 'Bullshit, prove it,'" McKinnon continues, "and made me strip down in the middle of the greenroom. And when he saw it, he teared up and hugged me and said: 'McKinnon, I knew there was a reason I liked you.'"

• "That was our bonding moment. And I went on from there to later work for the senator in his bid to win the Republican nomination in 2008."