Amber Passmore
1987-2006

Amber was a very beautiful, bright loving young lady. She was loved by so many. Over 1,000 people attended her funeral services. Amber was very close to her family and was very special to her younger brother David and older sister Amanda. Amber loved everyone and believed in random acts of kindness. Amber was an aid for the Special Ed. children at Clay Chalkville High School. She loved cars, drag racing, NASCAR, butterflies, and taking pictures. Amber was 18 years old, a member of DECA, worked at Yakety-Yak wireless and was two weeks away from her high school graduation. The children of Special Ed. Class were devastated by the passing of a beautiful and caring person. On the weekends she was frequently seen at the car shows and drag races, all my hotrod buddies knew her well and saw her often. She was always ahead of the times, some fads I think she may have been the one that started them.

Amber was baptized at Lakewood Baptist Church with her sister and Mother when she was younger and had began to recommit her life to God a few months before her accident. We were members at North Park Baptist Church at the time of her accident. Amber's favorite Bible verse was: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 it reads: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

This verse reminds me of Amber's heart and the memories I have of her. This verse represents the model of her behavior.

There are no words that can describe the loss of a child and it's my prayer that others could be saved by learning from Amber's accident. Although we know our faith teaches us that we will see her again it does not cure the constant pain of losing such a beautiful, wonderful child that had her whole life ahead of her. We should always remember when someone we love walks out the door it may be the last time we see them on this Earth, therefore it's as equally important that we have Jesus Christ in our heart, living each moment for his glory knowing it could be our loved one's last time to see us on this Earth as well.

Amber's accident still remains somewhat of a mystery. No witnesses have came forward if there were any. Her reason for traveling this road was unknown. If any of the circumstances would have been different this would not have been a fatal accident. Amber was driving too fast, possibly using her cell phone, it was a dark and curvy road, it had been drizzling earlier, the tires on her car were in poor condition, worst of all she WAS NOT wearing her seatbelt and was thrown over thirty feet from the car when it rolled after going into a ditch. Amber's ONLY injury was trauma to her brain. There was hardly a scratch on her. Driving with her seat leaned back and no seatbelt was just part of her "being cool" like all the teenagers are doing these days. Wearing a seatbelt has always been thought of as menacing in our family. Although we tried to persuade Amanda and Amber to wear theirs we didn't practice what we preached. I never wore one unless I was driving a racecar. Needless to say our family never drives or rides without it now.

Although some accidents could never be avoided, the severity could be decreased by wearing a seatbelt in most cases.

If the stories and heart aches documented on this site could save only one life, the site would have more than served a worthy purpose. I hope it saves many lives. Life is too short to be taken for granted and it's thoughtlessly taken by too many small mistakes. Take the time to tell someone you love them today, it's what Amber would have done.