remembrance tattoos for passed loved ones

Perhaps what truly makes memorializing a loved one so special is that it affords you a chance to celebrate the uniqueness of that person and your relationship.

Memorializing someone you cared for also helps keep that person’s memory alive, and shows others just how much he or she meant to you. Since he carries personal experience with memorial tattoos, having actually been inked with his father’s ashes in his honor, he practices extra compassion on his clients, knowing just how heart-wrenching it can be to discuss such a matter.There are many different ways to honor the memory of a loved one who has passed on. Either way, it’s all about the deceased.Īllen Degenerate works as a tattoo artist for Truth Ink in Fort Wayne, Indiana, seeing clients who request memorial tattoos almost daily. For many others, it’s not about feeling seen or opening up the conversation around death. Yet somehow, the intimate, personal details in memorial tattoos have opened a window, leading straight into the heart of those who grieve.įor some, bereavement ink is about normalizing pain, being marked in such a way that provides closure, or even acting as a stepping stone in one’s grief. Some show their deep pain on the outside, while others harbor it inwardly and deal with its complexity behind closed doors. “They want me to capture tiny details into the piece that specific to them and may not be noticed by the passerby.”īecause our relationships with the deceased couldn’t be more different from one another, we cannot expect our grief to be identical. “A majority of my clients will tell me their personal stories about the loss of a loved one or a pet,” Blair says. Quite the contrary actually, as they make up nearly a quarter of his clientele. “But on most days I find it too hard, so I smile and tell the person who asked, ‘Yes, that is my baby.'”ĭespite the harsh waves that come and go in her grief, Cox says her memorial tattoo still serves its purpose in honoring her late daughter’s life, even if the world around her doesn’t get the privilege of knowing her intimate story.įor Bobby Blair, retired Chief Warrant Officer of the U.S., tattoo artist of seven years, and owner of Hidden Moon Studio, LLC, memorial tattoos are not a rare occurrence in his shop. “I get asked about my tattoo very frequently and sometimes it’s hard, my responses vary by person if I feel up to telling her story,” Cox tells Scary Mommy. In a way, having a memorial tattoo defies nature, sticking with the bereaved far after their own passing.įor some, much like bereaved mother Jasmin Cox from Alaska, who lost her first child shortly after birth due to pregnancy complications, memorial tattoos can be a useful way to tell a narrative when those who are grieving find themselves unable to find the words. The deceased’s memory is honored through the ink, etched forever, and visible even in the wake of death. Just as the bereaved grieve in a way that is unique and permanent, memorial tattoos are also unique and permanent.

Losing a loved one and the grief that follows sticks with a person forever. Believe it or not, having a memorial tattoo has helped me throughout my many recurring stages of grief. Three years later, and I’m still grateful that what I envisioned was breathed to life. It was fitting for me, perfect for her, and overall, it gave me a sense of peace. I ended up going with a delicate watercolor design reading “Lainey Loo,” and written just beneath it the words, “too beautiful for earth.” With one of my best friends by my side and a desperate longing to take an active role in my own grief, I set out to find a tattoo artist to design my first memorial piece. However, there was something I could do to keep some piece of her memory with me. I needed her most, and that was an impossibility. This time, in her honor.įrom the beginning, I knew I needed something more in my grief than what I was already doing. Then I lost my daughter when she was four months old to SIDS, and it was never a question that I’d mark myself again with ink. The first one I received marked my arm at 18, while I naively believed it was a one-and-done type of ordeal. To me, the buzzing is soothing, the clean atmosphere is cleansing, and the end result is worth every needle-prick of my pain. I’ve never been a person who handles needles with my dignity intact, but I consider tattoos to be a beautiful form of artwork and outward expression.

Remembrance tattoos for passed loved ones