JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Remembering lost loved ones. Overcoming an illness. Honoring military service. Surviving suicide. Living with an ailment, or paying homage to your favorite cartoon or super hero.
People get tattoos for a host of reasons and the stories behind the body art is often as colorful as the permanent display.
Saturday is National Tattoo Day and we asked people around the First Coast to share their ink stories with us. The deluge of photos tell remarkable stories of joy, pain, survival, strength and encouragement.
Mary Wooten told us that people often make fun of the "corny" tattoo of the RMS Titanic on her arm.
And then she tells them why it's there.
"My mom gave me some money to go buy her the movie Titanic from Blockbuster when they had the special midnight release in 1998. When I got home, she had passed away from a heart attack. She also liked cardinals. I'm not gonna lie, I love watching the looks on people's faces after they make fun of my 'corny' Titanic tattoo once I tell them the story behind it."
