After being adopted when she was just three days old, Paris resident Lisa Walker never knew her biological family, but her adoptive family showered her with love from day one.
Her adoptive mother died in 1982 from cancer and her hero, her father, died in 1995, also from cancer.
Lisa is married to David Walker and they have been together for almost 20 years while raising Blue Heeler dogs they love. Lisa works for Portable Storage Solutions as an office manager and serves on the Boys & Girls Club Board of Directors, the Denver Pyles Children’s Charities Board of Directors and the Lamar County CrimeStoppers Board of Directors.
As I got older, Lisa began to take an interest in her biological family, noting, “As I got older and went to a new doctor or specialist, they would want to know my medical history. I have to say I don’t know. This made it difficult once or twice when trying to diagnose issues. That’s when I really started to think about finding my birth parents.
Recently, Lisa came into contact with her biological family after her friend, Vicki Ballard, helped her search and find them.
Lisa found out her birth mother’s name in 2013.
“In 2013, I went to get the papers to open my adoption file. I received them and there was my birth mother’s name on the document giving me to my mom and dad. What struck the air in my lungs was that I saw my mother’s signature for the first time in 31 years and these two wonderful people accepted me as theirs. At that point, I accepted that my birth mother’s name would satisfy my curiosity. For Christmas 2019, I made a ancestors.com test, not believing in the process at all. It took about five weeks to receive the email with the results. I know it wasn’t five minutes after acknowledging the email that I started getting notifications of what I now know to be real parents. I contacted a closest relative and told her that she was my aunt, the sister of my biological father. We emailed and that was about it.
That journey of discovery continued when Lisa posted a post on Facebook about her adoption story in November 2021, stating that she “felt like someone needed to read / hear / see it. “.
After that, Paris resident Vicki Ballard, business owner and friend of Lisa’s, asked for help, telling eExtra News, “She had a Facebook post about her adoption and I saw it – my hobby is genetic genealogy and I’ve been pretty good at finding information on other adoptees – so I offered to help. Lisa and she accepted … I like the research aspect, and I feel like I am involved in these families. Lisa and I are friends and when she accepted the offer of help, I started straight away … It’s always a pleasure to show an adoptee who they are supportive of – many have never seen someone who looks like them. Lisa of course favors her father.”
Vicki said she is still working on Lisa’s case today.
Within a week, Vicki managed to find Lisa’s brother in Hawaii on her mother’s side who was delighted to meet her. Lisa was delighted, saying: “ I cried. A colleague was in the office at the time and he did not know what was going on. He later rejoiced with me. When Vicki found my brother and sisters on my dad’s side, they had no idea of having another brother. So obviously they weren’t that open. However, Celina’s sister was in touch and willing to provide any information I asked for. She and I shared texts and are planning to meet this month. I have no doubt that we will get along very well. Since I spoke to my brother in Hawaii, we have been texting 2-3 times a week. He included me in their huge fireworks display on New Years Eve and let me see it live. The sister who lives in Celina is ready to meet in person during the month of January. Until we meet, I won’t have much information from my bio dad’s side. I am enthusiastic about it. I can’t wait to find the time to book a trip to Hawaii as well.
In a Facebook post on November 11, 2021, Lisa shared an update on her Facebook, stating, “So on Tuesday of this week I got a phone call… that was my brother. He lives in Hawaii. Very educated and extremely gentle. My biological mother died in 2012. He wants to give her to me, through his memories. The conversation changed from “Are you my brother? To “I love you”. It was the strangest feeling, but I felt like I had been connected to him all my life. He’s seven years younger than me. I took a picture of him and his family and he has a lovely loving family… Yes, I have already checked the airfare prices to Hawaii. We had a little brother who no longer lives. I think the most important information I received this week that I was looking for was, my mom talked about me. I was not a secret. My brother was always told by our mom that I would find them when I was ready. Earlier this week it was that day. I look forward to developing this relationship with my brother and his family and getting to know him. Some of the things I learned about my mom yesterday: She finished school when she was 14. She left home and began her journey at age 14. She was adopted herself. She didn’t have a great life growing up like me. There were bad lifestyle decisions made. She knew, for sure, that the right decision for me to have a chance in life was to give myself up for adoption. She has struggled in life and decision making, but it looks like she has lived her life to the fullest. She was loved by many and had several close friends who loved her bunches. My brother told me that before he passed… he wanted to find me and she always told him I was fine. I still wondered if she had a touch or just a maternal instinct that knew it was true. She’s been involved in Hispanic culture for a while… that explains my love of Mexican food… her hair was brown with some natural reddish highlights… the ones I hate and always try to cover up. She was a genius in some ways and helped patent a microchip through DuPont. “
Later in the post, she expressed her gratitude for Vicki’s hard work, saying, “She’ll never know what this has meant to me.” None of this would have happened without Vicki’s help and I am very grateful to her and this gift she gave me is immeasurable. I think there are many more chapters to open, but for now… I am satisfied, blessed, grateful and loved ”
After this experience Lisa said, “To anyone looking for your birth parents, please do it. You can go as far as you want just by knowing their names to meet them face to face. This trip for me has completely filled my heart, although the information that has been gathered so far is all I get… but I know this is only the beginning. Hope you enjoyed my story. If you are interested or have any questions, I would be happy to lend an ear. You can contact her at lisa_louann@icloud.com.
