Of all the people Jesse Braden has paid permanent tribute to with a tattoo on his body, his mom Carol, whose name is inked on his wrist, has made the most enduring impression. “It’s difficult when you’re a single mom raising two kids and working,” Jesse says. “And trying to put food on the table and provide Christmas presents.’ But when Jesse looks back on pictures from his Christmases past, he sees his younger self always happy on the big day, despite the dread he often felt during the days leading up to it. “There’s a lot of comparison [when you are a child],” Jesse says. “You see what other people have, and you’re left with [looking] at what you have.” Or in Jesse’s case, what he didn’t have. Yet—come Christmas—he would always find he did have something wonderful under the tree. “I obviously thought that a lot those were brought by Santa,” Jesse says. “But later in life, as I became more mature, my mom informed me of the help we received throughout the years.” And she always encouraged Jesse to be grateful, and whenever he could, pay that generosity forward. “It kind of thrust me into be the man I grew up being,” Jesse says. Now that he runs the Rebel Ink Tattoo shop, Jesse and his fellow artists raise thousands of dollars every year by donating all the money they make from inking pre-designed tattoos to Santas Anonymous—the same charity that once helped his family. This year, Jesse’s fundraising ‘flash sale’ is happening on December 12th and 13th at their shop on Burnside Road. “I hope we are able to provide presents and food and a general feeling of fullness [in the recipient’s] house,” Jesse says. Like tattoos, Christmas memories make a permanent mark on our lives. So—like his mom—Jesse is striving to make an indelible positive impact on other people’s hearts.
