memorial tattoos

Beyond Traditional: Memorial Tattoos

February 28, 2013 urngarden.com

With cremations on the rise nationally, many bereaved individuals are looking for unique ideas on what to do with their loved one’s ashes. Typically, cremated remains are either buried or displayed in a beautiful urn.

However, some want to do more and go beyond traditional commemorations.

They want to hold their loved one as close to their heart as possible and do so by designing and getting memorial tattoos. However, not just any kind of tattoo. Some mourners today seek to have a small portion of their loved one’s ashes incorporated into the ink used in the tattoo. The ashes are ground into a fine powder and sterilized before mixed with the ink.

Is this a great way to memorialize a loved one? Of course. But, it doesn’t come without risk.

The chance of infection or rejection is greater than with a traditional tattoo because you are introducing a foreign substance into your body. Since this is a relatively new procedure, there really isn’t much scientific data to support or reject it. Then there’s the chore of finding a tattoo artist who specializes in this technique. They are out there, and this is an amazing way to honor your loved one who died!

What better to inscribe your loved one’s name or image then with a bit of his or her ashes! This is definitely a personalized way to keep a parent, child, spouse, or friend’s memory alive and with you forever!

Peggy Smith Memorial Tattoo

August 17, 2009 urngarden.com

Peggy Edge Smith Memorial Tattoo

Peggy Sue Smith, RIP: My nephew had a memorial tattoo done to honor his grandmother, who introduced him to the guitar and paid for lessons.

Peggy was my mother-in-law, and was an influence in launching this site. Peggy had always been the picture of health and when she died suddenly from a brain tumor, 6 weeks after diagnosis, we were all deeply affected. Peggy’s husband Ed Smith was kind enough to compose these words about Peggy:

It’s hard to put a lifetime in such a short space but Peggy Smith had a full life even though it was prematurely shortened by a malignant brain tumor in 2001 at the young age of sixty. Peggy grew up and attended schools in Springfield, MO graduating from Central High School in 1959. She had been a student worker in high school and was hired as a full-time secretary at Parkview High School upon graduation. She worked there for several years before moving to California and then returning to Springfield in the mid-seventies. She was re-hired by the Springfield School District upon return and worked there until retiring in 1998 for a total of 31 years with the School District. Peggy’s first marriage was ended in the late eighties and she was married again in 1984. She was the mother of two children, Kirk Hall and Keely (Hall) Millstead, and the grandmother of eight, five of whom were brought into her life in the second marriage. She thoroughly enjoyed their participation in sports, music and other activities and didn’t miss many opportunities to see all of them perform at their various functions. She was a great lady and has been missed much by all who knew her in the more than four years since her death.