I feel like I need third party input on a new tattoo I’m planning on getting. ( Whenever I have the money. d: )

I wasn’t originally planning on getting another tattoo until my next birthday, but an unexpected event has changed that. While I was on vacation I got a call from my girlfriend saying that one of my closest, most trusted, friends had died. He was also a romantic interest, but due to circumstances we never did anything about it. He was 25, his death was sudden and I really don’t know if it was painless or not. He was shot and then his body disposed of in a river. I’m really not liking this whole grieving thing and seeing as we didn’t know his family really well and only found out by chance, we don’t know where his grave is, so physical closure the traditional way is a little difficult to achieve.

Before he died, last conversation I had with him, he had mentioned that he wanted a new tattoo, but I told him to tell me the next time we talked, which never happened. (I kinda wish I had known, ’cause then I’d just get that. But what can you do? )

So I want to get a tattoo to help me heal, and kind of… as an homage piece to him.

I haven’t decided on placement yet, I was thinking of a chest piece but that wouldn’t do so well for work.

My original idea was centered around a heart locket, really ornate and vintage looking, with a chunk missing from it, because he took a piece of me with him when he died. The other idea I had been toying with would be more of an homage to him than my original idea, incorporating things into the design that represented him or that were a part of his life.

So I’m bouncing between a tattoo that shows the hurt and the weight he carried in my life or a tattoo that’s more of an honor.

Input? And regardless of opinions, I’m still getting a tattoo with him as the driving force for me getting it. d: