Seniors get tattoos for many different reasons, but several use them as a way to honor and memorialize their loved ones.

“I have four hearts on the back of my arm,”  senior Allie Timberlake said. “My dad, my sister, my mom, and my brother drew one.”

Timberlake got her tattoo as a mark of adulthood and to celebrate her birthday.

“I wanted to celebrate my 18th birthday as special as it would sound,” Timberlake said.

Senior Jensen Ervin has the Chinese symbol for strength on his forearm to help him and advise him throughout life.

“I wanted something that I can look at every day and remind myself that you have to be strong to get through life,” senior Jensen Ervin said.

However, his other tattoo has a very meaningful reason behind it. Ervin memorialized his loved one with his tattoo below his collarbone.

“I have one that is angel wings with a cursive J that has my mom’s birthday and death date,” Ervin said.

Senior Marissa Matney chose her first tattoo as a dedication to her grandfather.

“My tattoo says, “Hello, Angels” in my grandpa’s handwriting on my shoulder,” Matney said.

This is something that she loves and appreciates about her grandfather and always wants to remember.

“My grandpa calls me and my sister his angels, and every time he sees us, he says, ‘Hello, Angels’,” Matney said.