What Motivates Kelly Osbourne, Zelda Williams, and Others to Get Tattoos Honoring Loved Ones
While Kelly Osbourne has been in the process of removing some of her tattoos, she had a good reason to add another one to her diverse collection of body art. On Thursday, the Fashion Police critic had a bumblebee tattooed on her right shoulder in honor of comedian Joan Rivers who recently passed away. Zelda Williams also recently revealed she got tatted for a similar reason. As a personal tribute to her late father, the 25-year-old got two tattoo. On her wrist, she permanently penned actor Robin Williams’ birthdate and above that, on her hand, an illustration of a hummingbird.
Williams and Osbourne join many others in choosing to get a tattoo honoring a lost loved one. Personally, my mother died when I was young and while I’ve never considered getting one (needles freak me out) my sister has one. She told me that being able to see something all the time isn’t necessarily a constant reminder of what she’s lost —as anyone who has lost someone knows, no reminders are necessary — it’s more of a memento to who she is today, the woman she’s becoming, and how those past events shape her.
In general, wearing a devotional tattoo is a way to keep the memory of a deceased loved one alive, according to Margot DeMello in her book Inked: Tattoos and Body Art around the World. But memories last as long as one wants them to and won't stay with someone for a longer amount of time with the addition of a tattoo. Instead, I assume that whenever someone gets a tattoo it's for their own reasons. “Without the love and loss from my childhood I would have never turned into the person I am today,” is the reason my sister gave for getting a tattoo. “I chose to wear their names permanently on my body as a reminder of the sacrifice they gave to let me live in their honor."
As for Zelda Williams, she said that the tats were dedicated to her “poppo” and thanked the artist for “so beautifully bringing my reminders to life.” I assume the symbolism behind the hummingbird was her motivation — they're fast and buzzy, just like he was. Osbourne, who at the time of Rivers's death called her co-host the "teacher, therapist, closest friend, inspiration and the only grandmother" she ever knew, said that the bumble bee is symbolic for Rivers because "if you looked at aerodynamics, at science, the bumble bee should not be able to fly. Physically, it was just not anatomically equipped to soar. Yet it did, defying gravity, defying logic," she wrote. "The bee was a creature that defied and beat the odds, a miracle.Thank you for being my Miracle."
