David Beckham is renowned not only for his success in soccer, but also for the tattoos that are splayed across his frame.  Among the drawings of his children and “we love you daddy” in their handwriting, he has the exact tattoo his father has and in the same place.

The significance of Beckham’s tattoos is comparable to the Dockweiler’s family tattoo, the words, “Always and forever, no matter what,” marked on each of their bodies.

“It’s just a phrase that we would say to each other a lot,” senior Whitney, the youngest Dockweiler, said. “When we went to bed, when we left the house, we would always say, ‘Always and forever, no matter what,’ so we got that [tattooed] on wherever. I have mine on my shoulder, we all have them on different places.”

The idea stemmed from the eldest daughter, Sarah. Whitney believed it was a way to get their parents’ approval of having tattoos, a theory supported by their mother herself.

“Our oldest daughter, she wanted a tattoo forever and so I think it was her way of getting a tattoo,” mother Penny Dockweiler said. “And so she came up with the idea that we should, as a family, all get the same tattoo. We’ve always said, [their father] especially, ‘I love you, always and forever, no matter what.’ So that’s what it says. And it’s in his handwriting.”

The saying has always had a special place within the family’s hearts, originating from their father’s belief that his children should always know that their parents are there for them.

“I started that when Sarah was a little girl because we both kind of grew up in families where we didn’t want to disappoint our parents or somehow we felt like if we screwed up then we might be cast aside and I wanted our girls to know that it didn’t matter what they did, we would always be there for them and we would always love them,” their father, Randy Dockweiler said.

Whitney’s older sisters were both excited from the start, bearing in mind that they had taken a liking to tattoos.

“I was excited when Sarah thought of it because I had always wanted a tattoo but didn’t know what to get and I loved that it had meaning to everyone in our family,” middle child Makenzie Dockweiler said.

Whitney, on the other hand, was neutral to them and was, according to her parents, more hesitant towards the plan.

“I was very nervous; I don’t like needles very much,” Whitney said. “I don’t like being in pain so I was scared it was gonna hurt a lot but once I got there and got it going it was fine.”

“Always and forever,” are their defining words, and really can’t be one-upped.

“I’m glad we did it,” Penny said. “It’s not something I ever regretted, ever. I don’t regret it and I don’t regret that my girls have it. I’m proud of it.”