Anna Halcin and her beloved dog, Sebastian, were inseparable friends for six long and joyful years. The small pooch never failed to make Halcin grin, no matter what life threw at him.

“He was and always will be dear to me,” Halcin told The Dodo. “We were inseparably linked.”

Sebastian’s love for Halcin would be expressed in a variety of ways, one of which he’d devised entirely on his own.

Sebastian would stroll up to Halcin and put his small paws on his arm, seemingly at the precise moment.

“He enjoyed hugging my arm,” Halcin recalled.

However, as enjoyable as their time together was, it couldn’t remain indefinitely. Sebastian died in October of last year.

Halcin was devastated to be separated from her favorite puppy. But, in the middle of her loss, she had an idea for a wonderful way to keep Sebastian close to her heart for the rest of her life.

“I wanted something that would always be with me, no matter what, and a tattoo seemed like the right solution,” Halcin explained.

Sebastian’s favorite stance inspired her to create a design that mimicked it:

Sebastian embraces Halcin in spirit, just as he did in life, as commemorated in that beautiful homage.

“Now it seems like he’s holding me every time I glance down,” Halcin added. “That has made it a lot easier for me to deal.”

Sebastian may be gone, but he still makes Halcin laugh and comforts her when she needs it the most. He’d always done it that way.

Sebastian now lives on in the hearts of others because to the tattoo he received in his honor.

After Halcin posted the tattoo with a pet loss support group on Facebook, the tattoo and the adorable little puppy that inspired it received an outpouring of well-wishes and appreciation.

Sebastian’s hug continues to give.

“After that, so many people messaged me with images of their similar-looking dogs, and I see him in every single one of them,” Halcin added. “I want to pretend it’s him every time he says, ‘Hi, Mama.’”

This article first published on The Dodo.