A woman decided to honor the more than 216,000 people who died in last year's tsunami by building a toothpick memorial.

"I remember thinking these people are going to become statistics, and I just felt I needed to see something other than a number in a newspaper article," says Nancy Lawson, 56, of Lawrence, Kansas.

Lawson glued 300,000 toothpicks together to represent couples and families who died in the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami. She glued some of them to shells, wild weeds and tree bark to form waves.

"I was making it because it was for me," says Lawson. "I wanted to be able to understand it, to wrap my mind and my heart around it. Every time I put one in place, I'd say a prayer."

Lawson, who suffers from fibromyalgia, an affliction of the bones and muscles that causes chronic fatigue, put the project on top of a cabinet in her home. It took her nearly one year to finish.

She also created a memorial to the victims of Sept. 11, 2001 using 6,000 toothpicks to created a tower. Named "Ascension," the toothpicks rose from an ashtray base.