WHAT REMAINS

The quiet energy we inherit, and the marks we leave behind.

I was born on January 14th—Sailor Jerry’s birthday.

I got married on June 12th—the day he died.

Some people would call that a coincidence.

But I’ve never been much for coincidence.

To me, it feels like alignment—something deeper. A thread.

Years ago, Ron told me a story that’s stuck with me ever since.

He was a young guy in school, living in Hawaii in the late ’60s or early ’70s.

One day, he walked into Sailor Jerry’s shop in Honolulu with a friend.

Ron didn’t get tattooed—but his friend did.

And years later, standing in Working Class Tattoo with me, he said:

“He was an old man, and I was a young guy—just like us standing here now.”

That line hit different.

It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t even meant to impress.

But it said everything.

Ron helped me see that tattooing isn’t about chasing attention or trying to skip steps.

It’s about staying the course.

Learning your craft.

Letting time and repetition shape you.

He was living proof of that—steadfast, self-assured, and humble.

He never needed to talk loud. He just showed up and did the work.

Every day.

I’ve thought about that moment a lot—about how presence moves between people.

Ron stood in Jerry’s shop.

He carried that memory for decades.

And then he handed it to me, not like a relic, but like a responsibility.

Since then, I’ve followed that same energy across the country—

reading the letters Sailor Jerry wrote to Paul Rogers and other legends of the craft.

I’ve held them in my hands.

Studied the rhythm of his words.

Felt the same pulse I see in his flash—the discipline, the defiance, the precision.

I’m not collecting these things just to have them.

I’m trying to understand them.

To stand inside them.

To carry them forward in a way that honors the weight.

Because tattooing isn’t just about what’s seen—it’s about what stays.

The energy left behind in the work.

The feeling in a well-drawn line.

The silence between stories told by those who were there.

We don’t always get to meet our heroes.

But sometimes we meet the people who did.

And if we’re lucky, we learn something from the way they listened.

The way they remembered.

The way they kept going.

We’re here to contribute.

To stay the course.

To hold the line.

To leave something worth picking up when we’re gone.

#DeadIdols

#TattooLegacy

#SailorJerry

#ForThoseWhoLeftTheirMark