When I lost a very dear friend of mine at the unfathomably young age of twenty-six, I started thinking about getting a tattoo to honor her memory. Just after her funeral, when I was still reeling over the sudden shock of her untimely passing, I came across a sheet of loose leaf paper stuffed absentmindedly in a random notebook. It must have been from the summer we were fifteen, and vacationing with her family in North Carolina. It was a page she had copied down from the 1970's bestseller Jonathan Livingston Seagull and it quoted, in her own handwriting, "You have the freedom to be yourself--your true self--here and now, and nothing can stand in your way." I thought how great it would be to replicate that in tattoo form, though I never ended up doing it.
Then, after my grandmother died from breast cancer, I found a journal she started writing in when she was first diagnosed. There are only a handful of entries, the last one dated about a month before her liver started failing and she lost her ability to write. The last sentence says: "Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal." Two years after she passed, I got that quote tattooed on my forearm--in her handwriting.
Getting these tattoos in my loved one's own handwriting may not make sense or have any real meaning to anyone except me, but I hold them extremely dear to my heart. Other memorial tattoos are a lot more obvious than this idea of mine. And in my research, I've noticed that they can be grouped into several general categories.
Names & Dates
The simplest and most direct way of honoring a loved one who has passed is by listing his or her name and/or the dates of birth and death. Whether it's a small grandma scrawled in soft script on your shoulder blade, or a full back piece with first name, middle name, last name, date of birth, date of death and an accompaying quote and meaningful image, this type of memorial tattoo will always be popular.
Hearts
When you lose someone we love, you feel like your heart is breaking. And even once time has passed and the wound begins to heal, you still feel like a chunk of it is missing, like there's a hole in your heart that can never be filled. Perhaps that is why so many people opt for a simple or elaborate heart tattoo as a memorial--to ink on your skin what you can't feel in your flesh.
Winged Hearts
One variation of the standard heart tattoo is the winged heart. It combines, I suppose, the elements of love and angels (or heaven). Depending on your pesonal religious beliefs, a tattoo of this type can represent the idea that your loved one has now earned her wings and is with the other angels, watching over you from the other side. It could also mean that love is the only thing that gives you wings, or that love lifts you up where you belong.
Portraits
As I mentioned in my hub on Tattoo Ideas: Portraits, getting a portrait tattoo is often a very moving and emotional experience. This emotional experience is doubled when the portrait tatoo is intended to honor a loved one who has passed away. Portrait tattoos are quite complex, and require the patience and dedication of a seasoned tattoo artist who pays attention to detail and hopefully has a good deal of experience with this specialized type of artwork.
Religious
Religious memorial tattoos can come in a variety of shapes and sizes. One of the most common images is that of a cross or crucifix, either with or without the loved one's name or birth/death dates printed in a banner wrapped around the cross. Praying hands, particularly praying hands clutching a rosay if you're of the Catholic faith, are also seen frequently. Angels are sometimes depicted looking down from heaven, smiling, or even hugging a tombstone.
R.i.p.
Finally, the last type of memorial tattoo is the simply stated, oldest sentiment in the book: R.I.P. which stands for Rest in Peace. This is, after all, our greatest hope. We pray that our loved ones who suffered through sickness, heartache, or depression, are now in a place where they can hurt no longer. We pray that they are resting peacefully as they watch over those they left behind on earth. We pray that they are resting before they find another womb to grow in, and come back to us so that we may meet again, if not in this life then certainly in the next.
Travelling is my life
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