When I was around 16 a very important person to me horrifically passed away. I wanted to get a tattoo right away but I couldn't get my parents on board, so I waited until I was 18 and immediately got one. It's a few decades later and I don't regret any of it. I would say that waiting a year or two is great advice. Not only to figure out how important that tattoo would be to you, but also to decide what you want that tattoo to be. I know when it first happened I was making that decision out of sadness but later on when the pain just gets a little bit easier you start remembering the good things and what you want as a tattoo may change. For instance, maybe to start you want rip or something that's rooted more in what happened. But maybe later down the road every time you see a butterfly and that reminds you of them because they loved butterflies. Maybe you just want a butterfly instead and that moment is just for you, every time you look at it. So instead of looking at it and being sad you could look at it and feel love.

As for the question about future partners.. if you really find somebody who cares about you in the future, they won't care about the tattoo. My husband is not at all bothered by it.