Elijah Canlas. Images: Instagram/@elijahcanlas
“Senior High” star Elijah Canlas had himself inked with a thumbs-up tattoo in remembrance of his late brother JM, who grappled with his mental health prior to his death in August.
Elijah took to his Instagram account on Sunday, Sept. 3 to share glimpses of himself getting a tattoo, where he revealed that JM “always wanted to get a full sleeve of tattoos” but his mother wouldn’t allow the latter to do so.
The actor was accompanied by his older brother Jerom and JM’s girlfriend Iya, as seen in the post.
“Remember when you’d always joke about wanting to get a full sleeve of tattoos, JM? Tapos sasakyan ko yung pagbibiro mo kay mom (Then I will ride along with you when it comes to teasing mom) until she gets pissed and tells us to not go home if we do push through with it. Guess what? Kuya Jerom and I just got tatted today,” he said.
“We even brought Iya with us. Mom’s fine with it now. She actually wants to get one herself. Even Dad wants to get tatted now,” he continued.
The “Senior High” star then shared that his tattoo is inspired by JM’s “ favorite thumbs up pose,” which had his name “enlaced on the design.”
“I want you with me forever and always. We all do. I can’t believe it hasn’t even been a month. Thank you for being my strength. I miss you so much it hurts,” he said. “Pero kaya ito ni kuya. Kaya namin ito (But your Kuya can handle the pain. We can do it). We love you more than anything, JM! Habang buhay. Habambuhay (forever).”
The tattoo caught the attention of Elijah’s fellow actors Kyle Echarri and Ana Abad Santos, as seen in the comments of his post.
Image: Screengrab from Instagram/@elijahcanlas
Image: Screengrab from Instagram/@elijahcanlas
The “About Us But Not About Us” star previously spoke about JM’s mental health battle during the latter’s inurnment rites last August, saying he “fought a good fight.”
JM’s death was confirmed by Jerom on Aug. 3. He was 17 years old. Prior to his death, he appeared in several projects including “Kiko Boksingero, “ANi,” “The Flaming History of the Dela Cruz Family,” and “Team Yey!”, among others. EDV