KEOKUK, Iowa (AP) — Even the smallest gesture can lead to unexpected fortune.
Or at least a free year's worth of sugar.
When Casey Carr, 41, of Keokuk got a tattoo of the C&H Sugar logo on his left forearm a couple weeks ago, he didn't think much of it. He just was looking for a clever way to get his and his wife Heidi Carr's initials on his body.
Heidi suggested getting the logo. The letters match, after all.
"It just popped into my head," Heidi told The Hawk Eye (http://bit.ly/2u5SrhE ). "At first (Casey) was like, 'I don't know about this.'"
But the idea started to grow on him. Casey already had 18 tattoos on his body, so he wasn't afraid to get another one. It took tattoo artist Brent Starr of Twisted Tattoos in Keokuk less than two hours to imprint the logo (in full color) on Casey's arm.
Casey never imagined word of the tattoo would get back to the C&H Sugar company.
"I shared it on Facebook, and friends started sharing it as well," Casey said. "Then a friend of mine who runs 'The Beaucephus Broadcast' mentioned it on his podcast. It kind of took off from there, and the company got ahold of it."
C&H Sugar quickly offered the couple a year's worth of free sugar products, which will come in the form of a monthly coupon for whichever C&H Sugar product they like.
The Carrs don't use a lot of sugar, so they plan to give it back to the community in the form of a bake sale or sugary lemonade stand. Casey has organized fundraisers for local causes before, so it shouldn't be difficult.
"We're never going to use all that sugar," Heidi said. "We want to do something positive. People need to hear about the good things that are happening."
Casey and Heidi have been together for 18 years, 14 of which they've been married. They work production at Pinnacle Foods, which is how they met.
"I liked him, and I would try to flirt with him and he would ignore me," Heidi said with a grin.
It wasn't that Casey was oblivious or disinterested — not entirely oblivious, anyway. He couldn't believe Heidi was flirting with him.
"She was so far out of my league, I just thought she was being friendly," Casey said.
The flirting continued, and Heidi even drew a picture of Casey and handed it to him at work. The picture garnered a minimal reaction from her future husband.
"I said, 'This guy is a challenge,'" Heidi said.
Heidi eventually told Casey she liked him, and the two have been together since. They have two sons together, in addition to Casey's 21-year-old daughter. Heidi has only three tattoos, but one of them matches Casey's — lyrics from the Coldplay song "Fix You" that read "Lights will guide you home."
"I like having tattoos that mean something to me," Casey said.
The evidence is on his body, such as tattoos of characters and emblems from his favorite video games like "Super Mario Bros" and "The Legend of Zelda." His band, "Glitter Salad," is tattooed on his arm on his well.
But not every tattoo has a meaning — particularly the one ones he got earlier in his life. That includes a tattoo of the Morton Salt logo.
"A friend of mine drew that up, and I liked it and went ahead and got it," Carr said.
So far, Carr hasn't received any offers for a free year's worth of salt.