what does a teardrop tattoo by the eye mean
The teardrop tattoo of yore is a prison mark meaning 'mother's tears' as in your brother dies while you are in prison, and you were not home to help mom out â¦ .....The family may have fallen on hard times and needed you there to work and bring in some money, but you couldn't help cause you were in prison...... teardrop tattoo on face with an empty top and  a full bottom symbolizes that the wearer has taken a revenge of the  murder of a loved one. An empty teardrop tattoo on face also  symbolizes a person's time served in prison, which is usually a  year at least.