Amber Martinson

Amber died as a result of a car accident. She was a 28 year old, single mother. She loved people and to help people. She worked as a senior meal coordinator and server in a local restaurant. Her regulars loved her and loved to tease her, because they knew that she’d tease them right back. Her phone was never quiet. She was always doing something for somebody or some group, delivering meals on wheels, selling popcorn at t-ball games or match making for her friends. People were her hobby. It was hard to find pictures of just her because she was always with somebody, especially her daughter Jazlynn.

Her hobby was people; building relationships and making connections.

When Amber was around you knew it because she lived life to the fullest and let everyone know about it. There was always laughter and lots of stories. She was crazy and fun. Amber had a way of turning friends into family and strangers into friends. She touched so many lives in her life which was evident by the line of people streaming out the funeral home door at her visitation. . One of Amber’s friends posted this on her Facebook page. “Your vibrancy radiated when you walked into a room, you took on life’s challenges with an open heart and a smile on your face. All of us are better because we were lucky to call you a friend.” That sums up Amber pretty well.

We wanted to capture how many lives Amber touched for the love of her life, Jazlynn, her 7 year old daughter. We placed Amber’s yellow hand print on 20+ canvasses while she was in the hospital waiting for her last opportunity to assist others, donation day . At the visitation, we invited everyone there to paint their hand and place it on one of those canvasses. The boards were filled with a plethora of hand prints, from big adult men down to little tiny babies. The hand prints overlap symbolizing how Amber had a way of connecting people. In the years to come, Jaz can look at these canvasses and remember her mom as the big hearted, friendly and positive person that everyone knew and loved.

In true Amber style, she continued to share herself in her last moments, by giving her heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas, sight and tissue to strangers, passing along with them some of her vibrancy. May they live as she did, cherishing each moment God blessed her and those around her with. She lived and died generously and would want everyone to follow suit. That is what we are trying to do.