Sandra Ambris

Sandra was born on April 20th, 1961, in Watsonville, California. Her family consisted of, her father Eleazar, her mother Frances, her brothers, Ruben, Andy, Gilbert, Rudy, Raul, and her sisters Martha and Anna . After Watsonville they moved to San Jose. Their first location was in a back duplex on Lynette Way across the street from their cousins, the Vegas, during the late 60’s until 1972. She loved visiting her cousins house after school. Firstly, because they were, well, her cousins of course, and secondly because they had a freezer eight feet tall, full of ice cream. Sandra thought to herself, “No need for an ice cream man, when I now have a colored television, and infinite supply of ice cream, and my cousins to do my dishes”. This is the life! They then moved to Naida Avenue where so many of the wonderful memories were made.

Sandra attended San Antonio Elementary school, Sylvia Cassell Elementary school, Clyde L. Fischer Junior High School, and graduated from William C. Overfelt High School, all in San Jose. Their house on Naida was always packed with love, laughter, and of course, the best smell ever. The best smell known to man. The smell of homemade tortillas of course! Martha, Sandra, and Anna shared the duty of making stacks of them to the ceiling. And of course the sisters would trade off from time to time. Martha would trade Anna tortilla duty so she didn’t burn her newly painted nails off. So Anna got away from dish duty that day. Then there were the times when Sandra would need some back up, of course from Anna, when Sandra, Martha, and Frank would go out cruising all night. But stories like these will come a bit later. Let’s get back to the younger years.

Now, seven children are more than a handful, you need at least two hands to just keep the count! So how did they keep the love in and the fighting out?

Well, first of all they took several camping trips to Clearlake, Lake Comanche, spent days at Sea Cliff, the Santa Cruz beaches, swimming at Alum Rock Park, playing in the creek and then having lunch. Oh yea, there was also Great America, local concerts, and the county fair.

If that isn’t enough. In the early 70’s there was a huge family vacation. I mean big time. Remember, 7 kids. Sheesh. They started in Watsonville, and then off to Santa Cruz to visit their family for a couple of days. Then they drove to McFarland to visit the Magana’s for a few days, and then off to Phoenix, AZ, to visit their mother’s brother Ben Marin. After a few days they drove to Juarez, Mexico to see their mother’s sister’s family. There, they went to a bull fight, the mercado, bought donkey piggy banks, maracas, and went swimming before returning to California. And from there, they went to Disneyland and Magic Mountain before returning back home to San Jose. Dang. Now that is one fun family vacation!

There were also the times when they would keep themselves busy. Like when Sandra and Andy dug a hole in the back yard and filled it with water when they lived on Lynette Street. Kids will be kids! They also enjoyed eating all the crawdads that they caught while spending precious sibling time at the river. Oh yea, and of course, then there was Martha and Sandra treating Anna to McDonalds after their glamorous shopping trip to the mall. The catch? Just as long as Anna carried all of the twenty-thousand bags of clothing home. Walking I remind you! Sister love I suppose? Finally, their parents did get them a swimming pool which they swam in very much.

Their favorite places to grab a bite to eat were always: Farrell’s ice cream shop, Orange Julius, Burger Bar, and Shakey’s pizza parlor.

On the weekends, Sandra enjoyed her Saturday morning cartoons, American Band Stand and Soul Train. Her and her sister Martha would be trying out the new dance moves and singing along. Standing on the bed, singing, and acting, or shall we say actressing. She was always singing her lungs out in the shower to the temptations! In the afternoons she would hang out with her friends Cathy, Faith, and Leah. Whichever one was available. Faith and Leah were her friends during Elementary school. Fortunately, Leah and Sandra kept in contact and Sandra occasionally slept over Leah’s new home in Willow Grove area. She also hung around the Perez sisters, Mary Jane and Susan. During middle school she mainly hung out with Cathy, Lou Lou, and Tammy Burns. On Saturday nights she would enjoy watching scary movies on the Creature Feature show. Sunday nights were spent watching the Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom TV series and the Disney TV shows. After school TV shows she enjoyed were, Brady Bunch, Partridge Family, Adams Family, Bewitched and others.

Sandra broke records on the dance floor, with her moves of course, and we believe we know where it started from. She loved getting free 45 records on the back of cereal boxes, cutting them out, playing them, and singing her heart out. She never stopped. She also loved baking in her Suzy Home maker oven. Some of you would remember. And when Christmas came. Well. She had four consecutive years of her Nina giving her the same gift. That gift was called “Kerplunk”. She would always get teased by her brothers and sisters…We know what you’re getting!

Sandra was a dancer for the ages. A neck breaker so to speak. Come on now, we are talking about turning heads! She began her endeavors at a young age, going to competitions in San Jose and the surrounding areas and stealing the show, along with her best friend Lou Lou Salcido. There was no stopping on the dance floor with these two. I remember my father telling us that, the only way that he could get Sandra, was learning how to dance. Dancing he learned, and dancing they did.

Frank and Sandra danced all the way into marriage! They got married in 1983, in Lake Tahoe.

They started their new-found life at their first apartment. That was when they made their first child named Frankie. Next, they bought a house on the East Foot Hills, on East Ridge Drive, in San Jose. Frankie would be sliding down in his pampers on the stairs, with grandpa Pancho and Uncle Ruben frantically chasing him, in panic mode, waiting for Sandra to get home. Frankie still has Sandra’s spanking on his butt to this day. A few years later, and Daniel was born. Now a full house, and Sandra has two of her trifecta, in place.

So now came the move to Modesto. Also with it, came their third son, Gabriel Joseph Ambris. Sandra’s trinity. Three young boys, all three years apart, and Modesto was introduced to the Ambris family. The mighty Thor couldn’t even bring down from the heavens what Sandra and Frank produced. She should have a sign on her truck that read "Sandra's baseball taxi service, now get out of my way!". Everyday after she got off of work, was filled with driving her 3 boys to practice and games all throughout Modesto, while Frank was working swing shift. Let's go ahead and skip through the part of having to wash 20 pounds of baseball pants, full of sunflower seeds, dirt and grass, and the infamous young boy, unpleasant smell, and dive into, what our mother was really about, how she really got down!

Out of the kitchen, I believe, hands down, she was most famous for her salsa. Whether it was Frankie’s 3rd grade teacher begging for the recipe, the restaurant manager next to Brenden theatre doing the same, or just the fight at the bowl of chips for another dip, it is most evident, that Sandra produced the best salsa in the western hemisphere. But this recipe was given to her by her big brother Ruben Marin, and she swore to never share it. And uncle Ruben…..she never did. But oh my goodness my friends and family, that is only a sliver of her culinary skills. Having 3 boys, and on the average of about 4 cousins and 5 neighborhood friends at the house at all times, when she made her enchiladas, you know there were at least 7 trays being made. Smelling up the whoooooole neighborhood! Weekend mornings were the best, because of the sweet smell of her breakfast being cooked. So delicious, so perfect. I remember one cousin saying, (no names now)… Tommy, and telling his mother, “ I like the way Aunt Sandra makes the eggs, because they come out all nice and fluffy”. Or… maybe it was the homemade cakes that she made for every birthday party, you all remember, definitely nothing like it. Not to forget her famous taco soup, or her delicious shepherd’s pie. Mmmmmmm….mmmmmm. No matter what we were eating, or when we were eating, you better believe we were saying grace. The dogs wouldn’t dare step foot in the kitchen, and for sure no one would be using foul language at the table. As a matter of fact, no foul language was allowed at all in her house, at least when she was around. Hehe. Every friend that came over knew the drill, pick up your pants, and watch your mouth. The respect Sandra received from all of our friends and cousins, is purely unknown in these days that we live in now. She was the ultimate woman without a doubt.

Whether it was all the neighborhood boys playing football in the street, playing basketball in the front, bikes piled up on the front lawn, running around the house having pillow fights, jumping in and out of the pool, or all huddled around the television playing video games. Sandra was the ultimate mother for more than just her 3 boys Frankie, Daniel and Gabriel. Every cousin and friend, loved, respected, and enjoyed Sandra sooooooo much for her open arms. And open kitchen of course. As brothers, we did get pretty bitter over everyone stealing our vanilla ice cream cones from Schwanns out of the freezer, but me and my brothers soon learned how to hide them under everything else, right under the otter pops and popsicle sticks. Can you imagine all this activity going on while everyone is juiced up on green and red kool aid!

Sandra’s arms were always open for giving hugs, and her doors were also open to any friend of ours with any difficulty. If we had a friend who was living in a rough environment at their house, they knew, 100%, that they could go to the Ambris house, and have happiness and joy. Her heart was truly the biggest on earth. It is truly amazing and a blessing to witness, how strong and beautiful Sandra’s heart was, and is. One short story, for a prime example, was when Frank and Sandra were in a local shopping center. When a man (once a young boy who Sandra helped in so many ways) came up to Frank and said, with tears pouring out of his eyes, “ thank you so much, if it wasn’t for the love you and your wife showed me, I wouldn’t be the man I am today”. Frank told him, Sandra is right over there Josh. Big ol Josh sprinted to Sandra, and instantly hugged and picked her up, and gave her his utter most appreciation, to the most amazing woman the world. True story.

Amazing is what Sandra walked, talked, and shared with us all, everyday of her beautiful life. You can literally see the amazing divinity, just pour out of her pockets everywhere that she went. She is truly one of God’s most precious creations he has ever formed. An angel, spreading her wings, showing us all how to live, and how to treat eachother, and helping anyone that came along her path. So while going through this book, we ask that you all open your hearts, and allow our mother’s divine spirit to pour right back into yours. This is her circle of life. She is with her mother, father, and big brother in the kingdom of heaven, and she is always going to be with us all, here on earth. We, as friends and family of Sandra, also have a duty, that will never end, until our call comes. And that is to keep her spirit alive forever. How do you do that you ask? Simple. Sandra simple. Continue to talk to her. She will answer. Continue to live our lives, just as she would go about living hers. Continue to laugh, smile, sing and dance with her. And let those sweet, silver, Sandra tears, pour down your cheek, as you turn the pages, to the world’s second best book ever composed.

So, before we all go into the next wonderful section of this amazing book of Sandra’s life.

We would like to thank each and everyone of you, for taking part, and joining us, on this beautiful journey, to celebrate the life of our mother, Sandra Ambris. And not only my mother, but also my brothers, Daniel and Gabriel’s mother as well. And most importantly, our father, Frank Ambris Jr.’s wife.

His wife’s life. Our mother’s life. Frances and Eleazar’s daughter’s life. Your daughter-in-law’s life. Your sister’s life. Your sister-in-law’s life. Your Aunt Sandra’s life. Your cousin’s life. Your co-worker’s life. Your friend’s life. And your friend’s mother’s life. And our pets, Goldie, Tisha, Buster, and Roto’s, mother’s life.

Now that’s a whole lot of life, a whole lot of life. Packed, ever so gently, in just 61 years. But, before we go on this beautiful journey, of unpacking this, absolutely amazing woman’s 61 years of life on this earth. It is only right to explain how, Sandra, re-wrote, and re-defined, the definition of love. How to love. How to live. How to carry yourself. How to laugh. How to dance. How to be strong. How to not complain. How to not compare. How to not judge. And how to pray, and live Holy.

Most of us read scripture, watch inspiring movies, listen to powerful music, and try to incorporate, love, happiness, and beauty in everything we do. But all our family had to do, was just watch our mom, Sandra, in action. She made it so Sandra simple. As she always does. And it is an honor, to be able to share with you, as her witnesses, that it is such a purely amazing and heavenly thing to see, and be taught, how simple and easy, love truly is.

Our mother has 3 sons, rather 3 angels, that she put on this earth. To carry out the simplicity of love, that she displayed and showed us. That she whispered to us, and continues to whisper to us, each and every day. She really kept it simple, but ever-so-persistent. Say grace before every meal, say your prayers before you sleep, and love your brothers.

And that is exactly what we did. That is what our mother built. Growing up as her children, and growing into young men. We never really had disagreements, or even arguments. We really didn’t. There was no need. That was not how she raised us. We just loved. Believe it or not, but that was our mother’s circle that she created. And our mother’s circle went far beyond her three boys. Far beyond. Sharing is what she taught us, and sharing her circle, her legacy of love, is what we are honored to share with all of you.

I am only one person, one man, and one son of three. But in honor of my mother. And also being afraid of being spanked, by one more hot wheel track. I accept, and am so excited, and brings me much joy, to carry out the duty, along with my brothers, and my father, to keep my mother’s beautiful spirit of love and forgiveness alive forever.

Like I said. Wait… Like I was taught. Whether it comes from our Lord, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. Let’s all try to live Christ like. Let’s all try to live Sandra like.

Mother. You are beyond amazing, and way beyond beautiful. And the strength you showed to me. The strength you showed to us. The strength you showed to this world…..Is immeasurable.

We love you ten thousand.