It was a Saturday morning at Southbay Tattoo and Body Piercing, in Carson, California, and its owner, Efraín Espinoza Díaz Jr., he was preparing for the first tattoo of the day: the commemorative portrait of a man that his widow wanted on his forearm.

Díaz, known as "Rock", has made tattoos for 26 years but still gets somewhat nervous when they are commemorative;And this was particularly delicate.Díaz was creating a portrait of Philip Martin Martínez, an artist of tattoo and friend, who died of Covid-19 in August, at 45 years.

"I need to concentrate," said Díaz, 52."It's a photo of my friend, my mentor".

Martínez, known for his friends and customers as "Sparky", was a renowned tattoo artist at the nearby Wilmington, in the South Bay region in Los Angeles.A tattoo had joined Sparky and Anita: Sparky made Anita her first tattoo, a portrait of her father, in 2012, and experience shot a romance.

Throughout the years of his relationship, he had covered Anita's body with intertwined roses and a portrait of her mother.

Now, the widow was "printing" on her arm the same photograph that was recorded in Sparky's tomb.It was going to be the first tattoo that did not make the same sparky.

"He feels a bit strange, but Rock has been very good with us," said Anita Martínez.Rock and Sparky "grew together".

They met in the 1990s, at a time when there were no tattoo stores owned by Mexican-American people in their neighborhood, but Sparky was gaining reputation."It was artists like Phil who inspired many of us to take that step in the professional tattoo industry," said Rock.

After Sparky became ill, Anita did not allow her to enter her husband's hospital room, an isolation experience shared by hundreds of thousands of Americans who lost a be loved by Covid-19.They let her into the end alone.

"They cheated me not to be with him in his last moments," said Anita, 43 years old.“When I entered, I felt that he had already left.We never say goodbye.We never hugged ourselves ".

"I don't even know if I'm ever recovered," he said, while Diaz began to outline the contours of the portrait under his elbow."But at least I can see it every day".

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According to a 2015 Harris survey, almost 30 % of Americans have at least one tattoo, a 10 % increase compared to 2011.At least 80 % of tattoos are commemorative, said Deborah Davidson, professor of Sociology at the University of York in Toronto, who has been investigating commemorative tattoos since 2009.

"Commemorative tattoos help us express our pain, put a bandage in our wounds and open a dialogue about death," he said."They help us integrate the loss in our lives to help us heal".

Unfortunately, COVID-19 has provided many opportunities for these commemorations.

Juan Rodríguez, a tattoo artist who calls himself “Monch”, has been receiving twice as customers as before the pandemic and has reservations in advance in his hall in Pacoima, a neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Commemorative tattoos, which can include special names, portraits and works of art, are common in their field of work, but there has been an increase in orders due to pandemic."A client called me on the way to his brother's funeral," Rodríguez said.

Rodríguez believes that commemorative tattoos help people process traumatic experiences.As the needle passes through the arms, legs and back of their customers, and they share stories of their loved ones, feel that he is an artist and therapist part.

Healthy mourners do not resolve the duel separating from the deceased, but creating a new relationship with them, said Jennifer R.Levin, therapist in Pasadena specialized in traumatic duel.“Tattoos can be a way to maintain that relationship, he said.

It is common for their patients, who go from 20 to 50 years, commemorative tattoos are made."It is a powerful way to recognize life, death and legacy".

Sazalea Martínez, a Kinesiology student at Antelope Valley College in Palmdale, California, went to Rodríguez's business in September to commemorate his grandparents.His grandfather died of Covid in February, his grandmother in April.He chose that Rodríguez tatuara an image of Azaleas with the phrase "I love you", written with the letter of his grandmother.

The Azaleas, who are part of his name, represent his grandfather, said.Sazalea decided not to make a portrait of his grandmother because the latter did not approve the tattoos."The‘ I love you ’is something simple and comforts me," he said."He will let me heal and I know that she would have understood".

Sazalea's eyes filled with tears when the needle moved through his forearm, drawing his grandmother's lyrics."It's still superfresco," he said.

"Basically they raised me.They hit what I am as a person, so having them will be comforting with me ”.KHN/MSC

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is the writing of KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation), which produces in -depth journalism on health issues.Together with policy and surveys analysis, KHN is one of the three KFF programs.Kff is a non -profit organization that provides information on health issues to the nation.

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