“I wish I could go back and see her reaction again,” Jared said, laughing. “I didn’t know if she hated it or loved it at the time, but she’s grown to love it.”
And as Jared’s journey in both hockey and getting tattoos has progressed, Erin’s love and support remain a constant. She was able to join Jared on the Kraken’s mom’s trip last year and is always there for her son encouraging him both on and off the ice.
“I owe everything to her, she’s an amazing woman,” Jared said. “(It’s not that she doesn’t) care about hockey, but (more so) she just wants me to be happy and be healthy. That’s all you can ask for in a mom, right? With her, it’s more just about how I am and my well-being, than it is about what I do (in hockey).”
That guiding love for those who love him is what has set the tone for all the body art that has followed and is to come. Jared prefers to keep the reasons behind his other tattoos private but does share the theme for them all.
“Just family stuff,” Jared said. “Little subtle things everywhere to remember where I came from, and the family that I have and how thankful I am for them.”