Celtic Cross

Some of you know that my youngest brother Steven died in a truck rollover accident last May.  He was 27 years old, and left an ex-wife and two children.  It has been a hard few months personally as I continue to come to terms with his untimely death.  He had just moved to Grand Junction, Colorado in an attempt to find a greater access to work for his painting business.  The distance and separation from the facts of his accident provided many questions as we tried to put pieces together.  

Needless to say, his loss was a shock to all of us.  I didn't have much of a sense of his presence except for one evening while going through his pictures while preparing a slide show for the Memorial.  Losing a brother I expected to be able to play softball with continues to be difficult.  What surprised me, however, was not having a sense of his presence.  So as a part of my grief, I found a great tattoo artist named Dr. Skins.  He studied art at UCLA and was a jazz harmonica artist with a few rock bands in the 80's and 90's.  He helped turn a picture of a Celtic cross into the art you see above, with intricate shading that makes it look like aged stone.  

Now I have a remembrance of Steven with me all the time, and a celebration of our Celtic heritage that both of us enjoyed.  Life isn't the same without you.  Love ya bro'.  Go Utes!