This might get a little long, so I'll apologize in advance. A little over a year ago, I went through an experience that effected me a great deal. I am a carpet installer in the Richmond, VA. area. One day, I got to the shop that I do the majority of my work through and found the manager of the store lying on the ground face down. He was still alive but didn't make it. He'd been shot four times, one through the lung, which killed him. Turns out another installer, who Jason had been forced to tell to hit the road, did it. I wasn't real close to Jason, only knew him for around a year, but we had alot in common and I did consider him a friend. This tattoo would be more about what I've been through because of this experience than memorializing Jason, but I may want to include something for him in it. I had alot of guilt intiallly because I could have left the house about 10 minutes earlier than I did, but chose not to because I knew I'd have to wait for my help, so I sat and watched the news a little longer. I'll never know if that time would have made a difference and no matter what anyone tries to tell me about the fact that I can't change it, or I could have got caught in the middle of it or whatever, I'll always wonder. It's also made me realize that you never know what can happen and how stupid and crazy some people can be. The other part of this is something that I still have a hard time accepting, because I never used to believe in this sort of thing. After I met Jason's family and answered some questions for them, they told me that I helped them a great deal to get through this because they had assumed that Jason was dead when I got there and they feared that he had died alone. They were very thankfull that I was there. When I left the funeral home after talking to them, I felt like a very large weight, as they say, had been lifted and I have had this overwhelming feeling like Jason has been looking after me ever since. It's not all the time, but many times if I'm going through problems with work or with my wife or whatever it may be, I'll suddenly feel him help me sort it out in my mind. Like I said, I never believed in a "guardian angel" before but it's hard to ignore when it seems to happening to me. So, I've been trying for quite a while to come up with something for a tattoo and I'm having a hard time. I'm not the most creative person in the world to begin with and I don't know a great deal about the different symbolisms so I thought I'd look to some of you for some help. I defenitely want something unique. I don't want to copy something. Also, I do have a tattoo of two horses running through a creek on my left shoulder blade area if that makes any difference. I'm not really interested in a traditional angel type piece. Looking more for something like an animal that represents a guardian. I like realistic animal tattoos.

Thanks,
Kory Fox

I normally don't get involved with suggesting artwork (I have with only one other person on here and otherwise)...but I'll sleep on it man. Tough break for your buddy.

Thanks Cannon. I'm not looking for someone to tell me what I should get tattooed. I'm just looking for ideas to get me started, so anything you can come up with may help.

Kory

Hey Kory, I went a did a serch on some animal symbolism for you, this is what I came up with. If you dont like any of these you can go to dogpile.com and do a search on animal symbolism and bring up quite a few sites on it, I just didnt have time to look at them all (Im at work LOL)


Christian Symbolism:
Butterfly - Resurection into a new life.
Dog - Faithful guardian
Dolphin - Rescuer of souls.
Falcon - A light shines in the darkness.
Phoenix - Rebifth from the ashes

Native American Symbolism:
Dog - Protection and loyalty
Eagle - Spirit conection to higher relms, courage
Quail - protectiveness.

good luck I think memorial tats are really awesome, you are doing it for the right reasons, and I am very sorry to hear about your loss, I hope your ink helps you cope.

Thank you shekissesgurls. I'll check out the website and see what else I can find there.

Kory