Written by Billy Ace

I called my dad Pops. I inherited a lot of things from him including my name. A career in the US Navy meant Willy spent a lot of my early life away at sea. For a very long time my relationship with him was fraught. Willy had his struggles and they definitely clouded our relationship for decades. We found common ground in his later years and were close at the time of his passing.

I don’t think I ever seriously considered getting a tattoo until a chance conversation with my wife’s life long friend Kerri. She told us about being able to incorporate ashes of loved ones into a tattoo. My dad had a lot of tattoos, kind of an occupational necessity in the navy. His Mi Vida Loca tattoo was one that he did himself when he was running with teenage Chicano gangs in LA in the 1950’s. At the time it was kind of a Mexican American cultural right of passage. The whole process of combining the ashes with ink was fascinating. Kerri took the time to walk me through each step, did a fantastic job and has a very gentle hand.