The positive role that getting a tattoo can play in the grieving process is undeniable. Speaking from personal experience, the comfort that I get every time I gaze at my own tribute tattoo is immense. 

Zach Braff, the actor/director known for “Scrubs” and “Garden State,” recently added a tribute tattoo of his own. Braff’s friend and fellow actor, Nick Cordero, passed away after a long stretch in the ICU due to COVID-19 in July. On August 6, Braff visited noted tattoo artist Dr. Woo to get a memorial piece for his friend. 

Shortly after Cordero’s passing, Braff shared the final text conversation he had with his friend prior to Cordero losing consciousness. “I have honestly never known a kinder person,” Braff said in an Instagram post. “But Covid doesn’t care about the purity of your soul, or the goodness in your heart. The last thing he ever texted me was to look out for his wife and one-year-old son, Elvis. I promise the world they will never want for anything. I feel so incredibly grateful I got to have Nick Cordero enter my life.”

Braff will obviously carry the memory of his friend in his heart forever, but thanks to Dr. Woo, he will also carry Cordero’s dancing image in his skin for the rest of his life.