Indiana Ink

This August, Dan Weyandt of Unique Ink gave Leann Demuzzio closure on a difficult time in her life as well as symbol to remember her grandfather and best friend, Robert "Pap J" Jackson.

"My family used to play trips and runs, Texas hold 'em, poker and click-clack every Sunday," Demuzzio said. "Pap J and I both liked to gamble and just play cards."

Demuzzio looked forward to the Sundays she spent with grandfather. As a child, she'd ride up and down "Pap J's street" in Turtle Creek.

As she grew up, the two would delight in eating his favorite foods - chicken and milkshakes - and pass hours sitting on the porch or watching movies. Sometimes, Jackson played drums for Demuzzio.

After finals week Fall 2007, Demuzzio's aunt died of natural causes. Arriving home from IUP, Demuzzio was mourning the loss of her aunt when she heard news of her grandfather's car accident.

After his car struck a telephone pole at the end of his street, Jackson's health declined rapidly. He had battled through World War II, prostate cancer and emphysema and, according to Demuzzio, the family didn't want to put him through any more pain.

"I stayed with him that whole night, singing to him, sleeping at his side. I did everything I could," Demuzzio said.

Oct. 13, Demuzzio reported seeing the number 13 everywhere she looked. The self-proclaimed superstitious gambler decided to play the lottery using the numbers 3-2-3 for her grandfather's birthday, March 23.

Boxing the number proved a wise decision, when 3-3-2 came up and Demuzzio won $80.

"I think that this was my grandfather giving me a sign that he was OK and that I shouldn't feel sad anymore," Demuzzio said.

Demuzzio still considers her grandfather to be her best friend and reports seeing him in dreams. To keep him with her in a physical presence, Demuzzio had her cousin to design a symbol incorporating all of the traditional suits displayed in a deck of playing cards (hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades).

Getting the tattoo seemed to wrap things up for Demuzzio, bringing a close to the painful mourning process.

"It just put an end to a long road. Now, he'll always be with me, at my back," she said.

Though Demuzzio isn't exactly sure what's in the cards for her as of yet, she'd like to get her master's in criminology at IUP and work for the Secret Service or U.S. Capitol Police in Washington, D.C.