My memorial tattoos for my son, Jake. And one of Jake with his piece, too

Jake was going to get “To thine own self, be true.” On his chest.

My daughter suggested he just get the saying I raised them with, “Honor your Truth” so he did.

I had no idea he was getting this tattoo. He came home one night when my daughter and I were sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner.

He took off his shirt and there it was.. my 17 year old son was blasted.
My daughter started to cry, lol. “youre not a little boy anymore,” she said.

I simply said, well, there’s that.
He was so stoked about it.

One of his best friends bought it for him as a birthday present, but asked Jake what it meant to him, first.
That conversation happened over text.
My son’s response regarding the meaning of “Honor your Truth” was beautiful, and far more wise than what you’d expect from the average 17 year old boy.

Both that friend and my sons #1 best friend have that entire script tattooed on the side of their torso now, with roses.
I’ll add a pic of that too..

The tattoo on the inside of my arm was my first memorial piece.
It’s a sun, representing my son.
An anitomical heart is in the center, with a pulse line that leads into something Jake said to me when he was almost 2 years old, just days after I separated from the father of my kids.

“I smell blue skies..”

He said it in the pouring rain, while I was stressed out of my mind and crying about being a single mom with two babies.
Jake’s heart was his compass.

It took me some time to decide whether I wanted the anatomical heart.
My son was stabbed through his heart at 17 years old.
But his love will always be in tact and perfect, to me.

The artist did it for me for free. It’s my design. Her name is Deidge Dunham.
She’s become a friend, of course.

My rose is about a year old..
I wanted a rose because he had two.
It’s not a full bloom, just as Jake wasn’t.
The stem and leaves are my sorrow..
My pitch black hell in his absence.
The rose... lit up and lovely, like my cub.

The artist is a guy from Rome, Claudio Mala Espina

I’ll be sleeved for Jake, eventually. I have some great ideas that represent my connection with my son.
Getting tattoos is therapeutic, for sure.