For six long and happy years, Anna Halcin her dear dog, Sebastian, were inseparable companions. Through all of life’s ups and downs, the little pup never failed to make Halcin smile.

“He was special to me, and always will be,” Halcin told The Dodo. “We were absolutely best friends.”

Among the many ways Sebastian would show his love for Halcin was a sweet gesture he’d invented all on his own.

Seemingly always at the perfect time, Sebastian would walk up and wrap his little paws around Halcin’s arm.

“He loved giving my arm a hug,” Halcin said.

As joyful as their time together was, however, it couldn’t last forever. Last October, sadly, Sebastian passed away.

Halcin was heartbroken to suddenly be apart from her beloved dog. But in the midst of her grief, she thought of a sweet way to make Sebastian forever a part of her.

“I wanted something that was always with me, no matter what, and a tattoo seemed just perfect,” Halcin said.

She chose a design that mirrored Sebastian’s favorite pose:

Just as Sebastian would embrace Halcin in life, he now does the same in spirit — memorialized in that artistic tribute.

“Now, every time I look down, it’s like he is hugging me,” Halcin said. “That’s helped me cope quite a bit.”

Sebastian may be gone, but he’s still making Halcin smile and bringing her comfort when she needs it most. Like he always had.

Nowadays, through that tattoo in his honor, Sebastian continues to live on in other people’s hearts as well.

After Halcin shared the body art with a pet loss support group online, it led to an outpouring of well-wishes and applause — for both the tattoo and the sweet little dog who inspired it.

Sebastian’s hug just keeps on giving.

“So many people messaged me after that, showing me the pictures of their similar-looking dogs, and I see him in each one of them,” Halcin said. “I like to think it’s him saying, ‘Hi, Mama,’ each time.”