"Nice to meet you, Brett," Lauren said with a smile. She made note of the coloring he liked; it was what she would have gone with, herself. "Now, let's figure out the subject before we really get any deeper into style. Obviously, whatever we're doing is going to depend on your particular beliefs and inclinations, what you want the piece to say. There's a lot of symbology that you have to draw from, if you didn't already have specific images in mind - crosses are popular, of course, if you're religious. Off the top of my head, you've also got pansies, violets, rosemary, all are symbols for remembrance. Wings or feathers can be symbols for hope."
She'd been flipping through her portfolio for examples when she had them - she'd never done a tattoo of rosemary before, for example, but she'd done some really nice winged crosses and flowers, even a sacred heart or two. "Or you can go straight text, if there's a particular quote or passage that speaks to you. It really depends on the feel you want this to have - I know you want serious, which is appropriate. But what sorts of undertones are you looking for? Hope, sadness, regret, rebirth? If you're not sure, you can usually answer this by asking yourself what you want to accomplish with this tattoo, what effect you want it to have on you and your life."