Lisa P. Files 

Stuarts Draft, VA, USA 

Recently retired from a career in the areas of Finance and Human Resources, Lisa remains active in various community organizations but more specifically, EPSILON SIGMA ALPHA INTERNATIONAL where she has championed individual potential on a continual basis. Lisa credits her active 28 year membership in this volunteer, philanthropic organization, where she has progressed in many areas of leadership, with helping her develop her own potential in the areas of the arts and results are shown below. Lisa's family is proud her work has been published in ESA news bulletins and in NLP anthologies and continue to support her efforts.

click here to listen to Arrivals And Departures
click here to listen to Echoes Of Him
click here to listen to Life Well Spent

Arrivals And Departures

We arrive amidst cries of pain, tears of joy and laughter. 
Brought to our senses by a sound slap to our buttocks; our  
first cry for acknowledgment is uttered! 

Nurturing or neglect molds us resulting in our leaping or 
crawling into each new phase of life. 

Constantly changing—nothing is quite the same amidst the  
total rearranging of lives spattered with insignificant  
victories while enmeshed with unseen dreams. 

Eventually, it dawns on us that—We've reached the Point 
of No Return! We are painfully aware that—Arrivals and 
Departures are the only certainties. 

Too late to run; we depart in a familiar atmosphere, cries  
of  pain and tears of sorrow. 

With a final cry for acknowledgment, We leap towards  
whatever awaits; Once more, We've Arrived!

Echoes Of Him

First-born, at the end of the 19th century to a Family that— 
would eventually number, NINE; He was aware by the time he 
reached the Age of Reason that Wants were luxuries and; 
Necessities—emotionally and materially—often times, 
UNFULFILLED! 
Unfulfillment during his formative years resulted in his 
Maintaining a life-long Sense of Commitment to Family— 
to what a Family could be—beyond the process of day-to-day 
survival. Private hungers were finally sated at age 33 when a  
communion was entered into that would last through the remaining 
42 years with us. 
This communion created a Haven and a Home based on Love and 
Desire for HIS OWN FAMILY that would eventually number; NINE! 
MEMORIES, of all that he was and gave remains—once brilliant; 
now somewhat subdued, echo in our ears and hearts. 
ECHOES OF HIM, a little softer sometimes—but echoes still— 
ECHOES of what his Strength and Spirit built; FAMILY!

Life Well Spent

Middle child, born at the beginning of the second decade of the 20th century to a family that would briefly number, Five; fate orphaned her before she was able to  
grasp what the world FAMILY really meant! 

The remainder of her formative years were spent in a convent where compliance and discipline headed the long list of rules that confronted her on a daily basis. 

Without family environment to guide her; at age of 17 she entered into a communion that would last 42 years and produce nine children spanning a period of 20 years. 

A strong complex woman and unconventional to say the least, she knew how to  
enjoy life and take pleasure in the world around her one day at a time never putting 
emphasis on things but always on her relationships with people. . . accepting them 
for what and who they were without judgment. 

Her way might not have been the way for some and her stoicism learned early in 
her life which helped her survive, misunderstood by others; but she remained true 
to her own beliefs until August 1, 1997 when she began her last adventure and  
was quietly reunited with others who had made that same journey years before. 

Bon Voyage, Mom. . . LIFE WELL SPENT!