A LITTLE ABOUT ME AND WHO I AM

BIRTH

Welcome to my personal homepage. My name is Lisa Diane Walker Ijames. I was born in Knoxville, TN on November 9, 1962. My first home was a 100-year-old log cabin near Corryton, TN, which is probably why I love old things and an old-fashioned life style. My paternal and maternal ancestors lived in Tennessee since the early 1700s. On my mothers side of the family, I'm related to Andrew Johnson, who took over the presidency when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. On my fathers side, my great grandfather was a Union officer, and his brother was a Confederate officer in the Civil War. My great-aunts were the five Walker Sisters who lived in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. My ancestry includes German and Scottish decent.

Click Here For My Paternal Family Tree
(James Thomas Walker and Ida Stinnett were my paternal grandparents. This family tree goes all the way back to my great, great, great, great grandfather.)


CHILDHOOD

My parents, who had been missionaries in France before my birth, moved to Florida when I was 16 months old, and my brother, Andre, was born February 26, 1965.

I grew up in the Green Swamp north of Lakeland, FL and attended school in Kathleen, FL. Growing up in the country was a wonderful experience. We had ponies, chickens, turkeys, cows, and a lot of dogs. My parents started having church services for the neighborhood in our home, and many of the local families attended. We organized a softball team and played against local church teams in a cow pasture on a neighbors land, using cow patties for bases. We rode motorcycles through the cow pastures and spent hours building tree forts and exploring the woods. We planted gardens, fed chickens, milked cows, hunted squirrels, fished, and rode horses bareback. In the summer, we'd pick wild blackberries, make homemade ice cream in an old crank ice cream maker and real butter in an old Daisy churn. We rode an hour each way on the schoolbus to get to school, played in the old barn until after dark, and swam in the creek (after we ran the alligators and snakes off.) It was an awesome place to grow up, and we learned to love every minute of life.


MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN

In 1978, I met David Ezzell, my first husband, in a laundry-mat, of all places. My mom invited him to church, and he gave his heart to the Lord and began attending Southeastern College. We were married on June 24, 1978 (yes, I was only 15 at the time!)

I became pregnant in December 1978, but lost the baby a few months later. In March 1979, I again became pregnant, but again I miscarried a few months later. Finally, on April 18, 1980, after a difficult pregnancy, I gave birth to our first son, David Shaun Ezzell. He was joined on October 27, 1981, by his sister, Katherine Elizabeth Samantha Ezzell, and on November 18, 1982, by his younger brother, Micah Perry Travis Ezzell.

I started nursing school at Polk Community College in May of 1985 where I made the Dean's List for three semesters. In January 1985, I started working at Winter Haven Hospital as a nurse technician. By this time, my husband had joined the Army Special Forces and was in training in Texas to become a Green Beret Medic. Our marriage was becoming very rocky, as my husband was only home two or three weekends out of a year. I quit nursing school two months before I graduated due to the stress of my marriage and trying to raise my children alone.


D-I-V-O-R-C-E

My husband and I divorced in August 1988 after ten years of marriage. I worked at various jobs, trying to support my three children and myself. I was briefly engaged in 1992, but thankful didn't go through with it. (My fiancee was an abusive alcoholic.) My ex-husband is now remarried and lives in Tacoma, Washington, when he isnt gallivanting around the world on secret military missions. There is no bitterness one either side. We realized we were both just too young, and have forgiven each other.


FLORIDA CAREER INSTITUTE

In January 1994, I made a decision that would forever change the course of my life. I enrolled in the Computer Office Management program at a local career school in Lakeland, FL. After I graduated from Business Training Institute, which later changed its name to Florida Career Institute, I was hired as a lab assistant. Over the next 7 years, I worked my way up the ladder to assistant instructor, business instructor, then business and medical program coordinator. I was also the career services director for the school.


COLLEGE AND BEYOND

I graduated from Warner Southern College in May 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Organizational Management and a 4.0 average, my best achievement to date! I was so happy the day I graduated!

After Florida Career Institute was sold in 2001, I, along with most of the other managers, was laid off. I found a job at the University of South Florida as a program assistant, not my calling in life, but at least it was a paycheck. I have also taught as an adjunct instructor at Polk Community College, and was a Microsoft Office consultant for H.M. Rowe Publishing in Baltimore, MD.


TENNESSEE, LAND OF MY BIRTH

In August of 2002, I flew to Sevierville, TN, to visit my dad, my brother, and my nephews and niece, who had all moved from Florida to Tennessee a month earlier. I fell in love with the area (again) and decided to stay. I moved into a beautiful log cabin in East Tennessee. I was hired as an instructor at Pellissippi State Technical Community College and in the summer of 2006 was promoted to assistant professor.


MY MOM, DANCING WITH THE ANGELS

On June 12, 2006, my mom fell and broke her right arm. She had been living in an assisted living facility since being diagnosed with multi-infarct dementia, an Alzheimer's-like disease caused by brain damage from strokes and which destroys the memory and personality. After she fell, she went to a rehibilitation center. She was there for two weeks and went into renal failure. She was transferred to ICU in critical condition, but never fully regained consciousness. She was transferred to a hospice, where she passed away ten days later on August 13, 2005. I have missed her every day since she left us. She was and will always be my best friend. But I know I will see her again one day. And I know that she is in a better place and that she is young again, she is healthy again, she is beautiful again, and she can walk again. I believe my mom is dancing with the angels!


LIFE NOW

I am currently working on my Masters degree in Educational Psychology at the University of Tennessee. My three children are grown now and the two oldest live in Jacksonville, FL. My oldest son is married for the second time and has three beautiful children, Destiny, who is 8 years old; David, who is 5 years old; and Desiree, who was born Feb. 7, 2007 on my husband's birthday! My daughter is studying to be a licensed massage therapist, and my youngest son is working on his associate degree in computer science here in Knoxville at Pellissippi State.

I have met my soulmate. Ken and I met in January 2006 and after spending many hours together and talking on the phone, we realized that we are one heart and one mind in two bodies. We were engaged on February 19, 2006 and married in a small private ceremony on March 17, 2006, on what would have been my mom's 77th birthday. I am so very happy and so in love! After all these years, I have found the love of my life!

My new husband and I purchased our first home together in July and moved in September 22, 2006. We're enjoying decorating and remodeling our new home.

In May 2006, I began having some strange health problems including extreme fatigue; tremors; tingling, numbness, and a buzzing sensation throughout my body; vision problems; a weird sensations of having a snug hat or band across my head; severe painful muscle spasms which make walking difficult; muscle weakness; vertigo; slurred speech and difficulty forming words; cognitive problems such as slow word recall, substituting the wrong word, memory problems, concentration problems, etc. I have had many medical tests, but seem to be somewhat of a medical mystery. My neurologist believes that I may have multiple sclerosis, but wants to refer me to Mayo Clinic for further testing. I would appreciate your prayers.

In March of 2007, I was also diagnosed with cervical carcinoma in situ - cancer which has not spread outside of the area where it started. I underwent laser surgery in May of 2007, which hopefully erradicated the cancer permanently. I still have to be monitored and have check ups every three months for the next few years, just to be sure that the cancer doesn't return.

I've found some great support and help during this time at HysterSisters, an online group of women helping women. Click the link below to visit the site:

Hysterectomy Support by HysterSisters.com


FAVORITES

My favorite movies are: Steel Magnolias, Titanic, Youve Got Mail, Runaway Bride, Pretty Woman, When Harry Met Sally, Shrek, Finding Nemo, Madagascar, and Just Like Heaven.

My favorite TV shows are Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, NCIS, House, Boston Legal, and Whose Line is it Anyway.

My favorite musical artists are: Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Allison Kraus and Union Station, Keith Urban, and Dale Ann Bradley.

My favorite songs are: Its Your Love by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, every song sung by Kenny Chesney, and Piney Rose by Dale Ann Bradley.

My favorite books are: The James Herriot All Creatures books and Jan Karons Mitford series.

My favorite color is teal green.

My favorite food is CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!

My favorite place in the whole world is my home in the Tennessee mountains.


MY FAVORITE QUOTES

Reach beyond your best.
Lisa Ezzell

Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up, see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.
Louisa May Alcott

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away!
Unknown

Look to this day. Yesterday is already a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision. But today, well-lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.
unknown

You know youre in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams
Dr. Seuss

"If I had a flower for every time I thought of you, I could walk through my garden forever."
Unknown

Yesterday is history, tomorrow a mystery. Today is a gift, thats why its called the present.
Unknown

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming WOO HOO, what a ride!
Unknown

I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.
~ Ettiene De Grellet

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