Lea Michele Gets Two Sentimental New Tattoos

People get tattoos for a plethora of reasons: They're aesthetically pleasing, they mark an accomplishment, they were drunk, it was a dare, they're making a tribute to their favorite team, character, symbol, animal, flower, etc. But, perhaps more often than not, people get inked as a lifelong physical memorial to people who are no longer physically with them. Case in point, tattoo aficionado Lea Michele got two new tattoos in memory of both her grandmother and Cory Monteith.

Tattoos are not rare occurrences for her, as the actor and singer has an impressive array of body ink, and she has already had one tattoo memorializing Monteith. But it's what she's chosen to get tattooed and her explanation as to why she did both of these new ones that makes them particularly significant.

She captioned the first photo, which shows a tattoo on her finger of a steaming mug of coffee:

I lost my beautiful grandma this week.. She wasn't your typical grandma. She gave me my first cup of coffee when I was 8 years old. She said something inappropriate to every boyfriend I've ever had. She never made pie or knit me a sweater. But she was my grandma and I loved her... More than anything.. I love you Grandma.

And she captioned the second photo, showing a tattoo on her side of the number five: "And one more.. for my Quarterback.. #5"

This reference will be especially endearing to Glee fans, who know that the late Monteith played Finn Hudson, the high school quarterback, whose jersey number was five. In fact, his memorial episode was infamously titled "The Quarterback," as he was known to be a leader on and off screen for the cast and crew.

Glee show runner, Ryan Murphy, wrote in his eulogy of the actor,

On Glee, Cory was the quarterback. He was a natural leader and, always, a welcome embrace. When new cast members joined the show — and that choir room can at first be a chilly one — Cory was the first to speak to them, welcome them, show them the ropes.

In addition to that, Michele's tattoo is especially fitting considering that as a bittersweet goodbye to the show when they wrapped filming last year, she shared a photo of herself carrying Finn's framed jersey with her on her final walk off the lot.

These two new tattoos may be small, but their meanings are anything but.