Benzil: A Song For His Little Sister

Benzil, 28

This is the story of loss and growth behind the “Little Sister” script on my friend and coworker, Benzil.

Memorial tattoos for a loved one can help bring closure and comfort to the one that wears the ink, as is how Benzil’s tattoo for his sister who passed in 2011 came to be.

“On my way to Baltimore I was listening to a Queens of the Stone age song called Little Sister. It’s a really good song and it really reminded me of her and it was like shortly after she passed, maybe a year after, and so I decided to get my second tattoo.” The intricate script on his right arm was done at Cirque De Rouge.

“Its placed on a part of my arm that I don’t get to see too often, so when I see it in the mirror it’s like a reminder that I had a little sister at one point. I guess it’s a reminder of how small my world got when I lost my only sibling.”

Through getting the tattoo, Benzil was able to reflect on his life and the changes he had to make to find a sense of closure. “It was a pretty traumatic part of my life where I was kind of aimless. I didn’t have a career, I didn’t have a job. I guess I was doing things to excess in the wrong capacity so I think to a certain degree it gave me a sense of closure. Or like a finale to the actual emotional whirlwind I was going through at the time.”

“It’s a constant reminder of my loss. It’s a beautiful tattoo and the was a beautiful girl so it seemed even more fitting.”