Marlone Toverada

Connect What inspired your most recent tattoo?

(Rosary, rose in middle of the cross and an eyeball peeking through the bud) My sister passed in 2020 to suicide and the one thing I always wondered was if she watches over me. I was never religious, but when I visited her memorial, her mother gave me her bible. I never knew she was religious. I began reading through it along with her notes and felt our connection grow through faith. I got this tattoo to represent our last living connection, and the eyeball in the bud so she can watch me.

If your ink could speak, what would it say?

My ink would say “I am a story- at first glance, misfortune, tragedy, and pain. But there is beauty in struggle, just like the sun and calm waters after the rain. I am a story about a man living in the middle of a storm; therefore I am a story about strength.”

What would you do with the $25,000?

Donate half of it to a suicide prevention non-profit. Buy a beautiful and expensive bouquet of flowers for my late sister’s mom. Take my sister(her ashes), and our brother with me to Bali like we planned before she passed- pay for the trip in full, just like I always dreamt of. Whatever is left goes to bills, and savings.