You should never need to explain but I know what you mean, I have 7 tattoos, and the amount of questions I get asked. I put a lot of thought into the rose, it was originally supposed to be something else , actually my tattoo is a cover up of a tattoo I got done in my early twenties and thought 'Nope, don't like this anymore' so the original picture would not cover, and after numerous discussions with the tattooists, we agreed on the rose.
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o154/Pictures_073/DarkTower.gif
This is where the idea came from..