Amber Martinez

Reason

As a kid I remember how my father would wake up before the sun, drink his coffee, and wake us up for school as he was leaving for work. I have a brother that is 18 months older than I am, then 4 years younger than me there is our sister. Our dad worked 2 jobs around this time. He worked as a detention officer at the Adult Detention Center 12 hours a day 5-6 days a week. That job in itself took a toll on him. Then as soon as he was able to clock out from his long shift there, he had just enough time to come home, change clothes, grab his plate from the microwave and head to job number two. Of course he also checked on us first, made sure our homework and chores were done, and told us goodnight and that he loved us before he would leave every time. He wouldn't get home until after midnight most of the time, sometimes later. At this job he was a bouncer at a local bar across town. I remember watching him come home about 2:30 am so tired that he walked in the front door, pushing himself those few more steps to the couch barely able to kick off his boots and then fell right to sleep just to wake up before the sun and do the same thing all over again.