Martinique Jade Daenzer

The eulogy I wrote for Jade and spoke at her funeral...

                Jade was my best friend. To me and to so many of you she was this fun, witty, adventurous, kind, loving, charming woman an awesome mother and friend. She was everything to everyone who knew her and you could not help but to fall in love with her. She had this thousand watt smile that could light up any room and make the day so much brighter. I am really going to miss that smile.
                I met Jade four years ago and we became instant friends. Over time she became more like family to my family and I. Although we lived far apart we always took the time to spend time with one another as often as possible. One thing I learned almost instantly after meeting her was that family and friends meant everything to her. She loved no one more in this world than her precious daughter Alyssa. Alyssa was her whole world. The bond and love they shared simply cannot be put into words. 
                Over time she and I shared many wonderful memories together. In the four short years that I had her in my life, we never had an argument. I do not have one single bad memory of her.  She was always so easy going and down to earth. No matter what we did, we always had a great time. From wii parties, fishing trips, camp outs and skydiving, we always had a blast just being around one another. My husband Joel, her boyfriend and I had the privilege of celebrating her birthday with her on the Guadalupe River this year. When she filled out the paperwork for her tube in the spot for her age she wrote out two words, twenty ten. That is what she liked to call it, twenty ten.
                My best memory of us is one I will carry for the rest of my life. One day in August two years ago she called me up going on and on about this hot air balloon she kept seeing on her way to work. She wanted so much to ride in it, until she found out how much it cost. She said, “We can go skydiving for less than that!” I had always wanted to go skydiving and so I responded with, “Okay, let's do it!” So to celebrate her birthday I booked it. We both went on and on about how excited we were over the two weeks before the jump. Then the big day came. We met up in Lexington and there she was with that 1000 watt smile on her face. We filled out the paperwork, weighed in, got strapped in and then I noticed Jade looked really nervous. The plane was really small so, we decided to let my husband jump first so she and I could jump together. After he landed the wind kicked up and we had to wait for a while to let it calm down. We were afraid we were not going to be able to jump.
Finally around 4:30 or 5:00 they gave us the go ahead and I noticed this total look of panic come across her face. I asked her what was wrong and she said, “I never told you this but I am terrified of heights!” To which I responded with, “Then why on Earth would you want to go skydiving?!” She said, “I didn’t! I was just joking and you took me seriously and booked it, so now I have to go.” I couldn’t stop laughing. We both laughed until we cried and we talked the whole way up. At around 5000 feet Jade said, “Okay, I’m ready. You can let me out now” The guys in the plane started laughing and said, “We are only ½ way up.”  Again we laughed but you could see the panic coming back on her face. Once we reached 10,000 feet they opened the door and that was it, she jumped. I was so proud of her. I followed a few minutes later. It was amazing! We jumped at the most perfect time because the sun was starting to set and it was just beautiful. Even though I jumped after her I landed first because I got stuck with the adrenaline junkie who liked to do all these crazy flips and spins all the way down.
                Once on the ground I waited anxiously for Jade to come down. I was so scared she was terrified up there, that she hated it and worse, she would hate me for making her do it. Once on the ground and she was unhooked from her parachute she ran to me with her arms wide open  and hugged me so tightly and screamed, “BEST DAY EVER!!! LET”S DO IT AGAIN!!”  As we walked away I hugged her once more and my husband snapped a photo of me clinging to her and her beaming that smile of hers from ear to ear. She continued to go skydiving a few more times and made sure she had the guy I jumped with because she wanted to experience the thrill of the flips and spins. That is who she was. She was this amazing person who looked straight ahead and didn’t let anything or anyone keep her down. This is how I choose to remember her, fearless and strong. She conquered her fears and she really truly lived her life to the fullest. She loved deeply, she laughed loudly, she worked hard and she really really lived. She was a great mother, sister, daughter, and friend. She was just amazing and that is how she should be remembered, as simply amazing.
                Jade, I love you, I miss you and I am so honored to have had the time I had with you. We all mourn your passing but today we celebrate your life and all the love and joy you brought into ours. I know we all are asking ourselves why you had to go. To quote country singer, Jo Dee Messina, "I guess heaven was needing a hero", and Jade, that hero is you. I am not going to say goodbye today because you will live on in all of our hearts, thoughts and memories. We will meet again one day in heaven. Until then I know you are flying high with the angels and that you are watching over us all. God be with you.