 Comments from those who knew Lisa
Thank you for visiting this site for Lisa Jensen. If you are so moved, it would mean a lot to have you share your thoughts, feelings or memories. Those of others are listed below, but we invite you to Add your own comments to this guestbook.
seventh anniversaries of Lisa's death Lisa loved to be celebrated. She rose visibly in a chair when people spoke highly of her. Looking through these images it's clear that she deserved such praise. I know I didn't find enough time or words to honour Lisa enough during the time we shared. Now it is so easy. The portraits, from childhood to our last year together, especially capture Lisa's rare vibrancy, beauty and character. Today is two years since Lisa died. It seems like yesterday and another lifetime ago. She would be so happy with how her boys are doing. They are strong in themselves and still able to love and connect with people. They are dearly loved by many - me, family and friends. Tom, Wow - I am a complete stranger to all the lives so beautifully highlighted here. I stumbled onto the site as part of some graduate work I am doing - trying to get smarter and better at bringing technology to curriculum. I am a mother of two amazing boys and felt like I could look into Lisa's eyes and see her happiness. I know if I was up in heaven and looking down on my life, I would be immensely honored to see this tribute. These pages give me renewed hope for the goodness and spiritual nature of life - all the happines we need is right there waiting in our hearts, isn't it? Live well Tom and boys and grow into your lives with the power of each other's love. Dear Lisa, you were such a good friend to me and I always enjoyed our times at TAFE, when we were both learning to be photographers. Lisa's friendship will always be a treasured memory for me, and it is a privilege to have known her. Thank you for sharing your Lisa with the world. I came across your wonderful loving website when I entered my name in a yahoo search. I could tell by her smile she enjoyed life and her eyes show lots of love and compassion. Thank you for sharing your love. Thank you for sharing your love for your beautiful wife. I too have stumbled across your site by chance. I started reading your story and at first was intrigued by the similarities. You see, I am an artist and currently an art teacher working towards a masters. My husband, Tom, and I have only been married for one year, but it is a daily fear of mine to think of losing him. I was captivated by her pictures and your tributes, and the words of your sweet boys. What a wonderful person, someone we can all learn from. I realize that I do not know her nor you, but I am guessing by her pictures that she had a certain zest for life and great love of people. I can only imagine your sorrow for her, but please know that she is in a better place, that her spirit still lives, and that one day you will see her again and your family can live together forever. Was researching on Webquests and came across your tribute to your beautiful Lisa. May the passing of time heal your sorrow, and ease the pain of the mystery of her untimely death. Thank you for your courage to share and create this moving memorial to Lisa, a very special person. This is an exceptional memorial. I have been so moved by your love and dedication of your wife and her life. I am sorry about your family's loss. I think that this will bring great healing to all and you have done a wonderful job. God bless you and your family. A wonderful dedication to a remarkable woman. I am using your website as a reference to a presention to AP's and Lead teachers in New York Schools and will dedicate my talk to the memory of Lisa. Keep up the good work from an ex-aussie. Our son, J.J., died on July 13, 2003 while helping an elderly neighbor trim his hedges. He was 30 years old with a baby 3 months old and a 2 year old son. He was a very wonderful Christian man who had his whole life ahead, but God gave him to us with love and we must return him lovingly and be thankful for our time with him. I was trying to find out more about sudden deaths, especially of arythmia, although we haven't gotten his official autopsy, that is what my heart tells me it may have been. I know how a person can feel obsessed in making the world understand how unforgettable their loved one was. I was very touched by the message given in this site. God bless you. We have been touched by the memories so wonderfully shared by so many. We also keep Tom, Lisa and the boys in our hearts and prayers. I am doing a project for my teaching class and I am finding out different things about Mr. March. I just wanted to say this is a beautiful thing you have done for your wife. As I browsed & read through the many memories of Lisa...I smiled, smirked and even shed a tear. I see that she made a difference in many lives, and this tribute will make that even more certain. Her life and memories will continue for as long as you let them... Just as the flowers bloom each spring, Her Beauty, Happiness, and Her Spirit will last forever, in the eyes of the beholder! Hi! I'm one of Lisa's cousins in South Africa -- possibly the youngest of the lot. I came across your web site quite by chance and only met Lisa once, when I was very small and Auntie Pam and Uncle Ben brought the family out for a holiday in the 70s. My sister Gill sent me the URL of this beautiful website, and I thought I would add my memories of my cousin Lisa. Like Gill, I think I only met her once, when she was on a holiday to South Africa. I have a very clear memory of her (she must have been about seventeen, me about fourteen) standing in the big dormitory bedroom in Uncle Lionel's Cintsa house, eating an orange on Christmas Day. I don't know why that sticks with me, but she seemed so beautiful and sure of herself. I regret that I did not know her better. And now that I am a mother myself, I feel very deeply for Auntie Pam and Uncle Ben, and for her boys. All love to all of you. Like my sisters, Renee and Gill, I remember Lisa from the Christmas holiday in Cintsa. I too remember her lovely eyes and peaceful nature. My thoughts are with you and your sons, Auntie Pam , Uncle Ben, Alvin and Lynn. As time passes, the memories in my heart of those who touched my life become more and more special. With a smile and a tear, I read the words of your family, friends, and others, like me, who are strangers. Thank you for a visit to my memories. As I make my wish on the stars tonight, I will think of you and your family. And I will think of my blessings with a grateful heart knowing that those we keep in our heart are never gone. They live in our laughter, our actions, and our future. As a new lecturer in ICT at ACUniversity I'm putting together Unit information about WebQuests for students. I'm from Romsey, Victoria originally and have used webquests with students throughout my teaching career. However I was shocked to read about Lisa's departure so quickly. I agree that we often do not celebrate the life of the one's that are so dear to us. This web site is a unique reminder to us all about the sanctity of life as you cherish the memories of Lisa. A moving and beautiful tribute to someone who still lives on and continues to help and motivate others. Your page is living proof that true love is for ever. I accidently found this web-site, and i was really touched by the way Lisa was portrayed. I am taking a course for teacher certification and part of my assignment was to explore your website. Your tribute is beautiful!! I am a happily married mother with two wonderful children (ages 9 and 6) - the bond that your wife has with her children is what I share with mine. Although her life ended so abruptly, the bond with her boys will be remembered as they grow to be men. I thank you for sharing your memories. I have learned so much through the sites you posted. I lived four years of my life in Australia and you were absolutely right to move there. I am sorry for your loss. There is no understanding it. I found your site as a professional exploring. We have followed similar professional paths, Tom, from college graduate study in Russian history and language, travel abroad (I too chose the vagabond route through western and eastern Europe ... before The Wall came down), eventually finding my avocation in teaching: seven years in secondary classrooms teaching social studies and eventually dealing with the advent of technology. I am now doing much the same thing as you ... helping fellow educators come to grips with the web and technology in general. I am very moved by this site and have spent at least 45 minutes browsing the photos and reading. Thank you for helping me reappreciate my love for my wife. Dear Tom, Thanks Tom for putting this beautiful web page together. Although I last saw Lisa 25 years ago in South Africa, I still remember what a wonderful time we had. She truly was a very special person. It was good to meet you and the boys when we were in Aus. I pray and trust that you will all grow in the experiences that life shares with us and that the home you are busy building will be extra special for you all. Much love. Noeleen I spoke to Lisa's mum, Pam, on Monday this week. The conversation, as always, embraced Lisa, Tom and the beautiful boys, and coincided with the first day of building at their beloved site in Mittagong. Lisa would be so proud and excited. To my dear departed sister, I miss & love you very much Love always your big brother Alvin. 29/4/2001 A beautiful tribute to a beautiful lady. Looking through the memory album -- the photos of Lisa and all of you -- renews my prayers and hope for your future. I am visiting this wonderful website just a few days before the first anniversary of Lisa's passing. It is a time that I am thinking of the entire Jensen family as I know it must be a difficult mark in the passage of time. Please know that my heart is with you all. There is such sadness in her early departure from all of us. Lisa was a close friend, a very dear friend. We shared many things: Zen practice, being psychotherapists, the joy of raising children, and some of our deepest concerns about our lives. I miss greatly her lovely enthusiasm for all of life. Tom, thank you so much for making this website. It helps my heart open to the grief and the joy of having been Lisa's friend. To Lisa and her dear family, It is wonderful to have this website to see Lisa in many different aspects of her life, especially since we knew her only in one time and place. It reminds me of what was always so striking about Lisa: How interesting she was and how interested she was in the world around her. We would go over to your house for dinner, and I would fully expect to talk about ordinary things, and Lisa would bring out some aspect of someone's life or her own life that you never expected. As we approach the anniversary of her passing from this world it is good to contemplate her in all these photos and to think of her on our lives and especially in your lives. I don't have to tell you how much we extend our hearts to you all at this time. With much love, Fred I realize that as I write it's May 6 in Australia and I have spent the last hour in Lisa's company, visiting her memory and sharing her warmth. Particularly at this time let me send love to Nathaniel, Aulden, Tom and Lynn, who must be "keeping company" with Lisa today more than ever. For months now, Lisa's tree--outside the zendo in Pacific Beach--has been producing red blossoms that seem to reflect her spirit perfectly. I think of her each time I see them. Thank you so much Tom for creating such an elegant site in honour of my beloved friend. From the time Lisa could spend her own money, she always chose elegance, simplicity, quality and uniqueness. Lisa would love and appreciate this site for all of these same qualities. I only had the pleasure of meeting Lisa one time. My relationship was (and is) with Tom. We worked together on a labor of love at Pacific Bell and San Diego State. Tom had wonderful pictures of Lisa, Nathaniel and Aulden on his desk. Each time I visited his office I was always drawn in by them. They were warm and reflected the love he feels for his family. Meeting Lisa on the eve of the family's emigration to Australia was a happy, exciting time for her. I always felt that we would have enjoyed knowing each other if circumstances had been different. My friendship with Tom has been fun, educational, and heartfelt. My thoughts are with you as you endure the first anniversary of Lisa's untimely passing. Her life lives on in all she touched. vivian I knew Lisa as a patient for roughly 6 months. After 2 months I felt I could talk and trust this person. Finally I had encountered a person that was able to help. It was her look in her eyes of understanding that allowed me to trust her. Whilst I am not family I had gotten to know her in a professional way and she had achieved wonders where others had failed. The truth of the matter is that Lisa had just gotten to the core of the problem and finally allowed me to see a rosier future. It was with the greatest of shock when I called in for the next visit I saw a little note to contact the Wollongong office. It was with the greatest of shock I learned of her passing away. Whilst I probably had no right on a professional basis I could not help but contact her husband in disbelief. I grieved for a very long time for the person I had befriended in a professional manner and grew to trust and who had helped me so much in the healing process of my counselling. I am not of any religeous belief, however, in lisa I found more healing than any other I had ever encountered. I knew Lisa more than twenty years ago, during our college days. We hadn't spoken since those days, I was truly shocked and saddened when an old friend rang me with the news. When I close my eyes and think of Lisa, I see her generous smile and caring, beautiful eyes - eyes that saw more than most. A vision of a compassionate, wise, and spiritual being. I went to the same high school as Lisa and I was in the same year as her sister, Lynn. I always remember Lisa from the first time I saw her at school. My teenage memories are a bit vague nowadays but I distinctly remember that Lisa was wearing a black jumper and was looking very cool. I would have been babbling nonsense and when Lisa spoke to me she was almost laughing in a kindly way that suggested she somehow knew me better than I knew myself. I also remember telling Lynn what a "stunner" her older sister was! I would always notice Lisa around the school and Lisa remains forever etched in my schoolboy memories as one of those gorgeous, sublime "older" women whose memories evoke warm feelings of teenage crushes and innocent days. I wish I had told Lisa this and if I did I'm sure she would have laughed in the same way as before. That's what I also remember about the whole Jensen family. Such warm friendly people and all so beautiful. I'm speaking on behalf of my brothers, Monty, Terry and Peter and my mother Della in extending our sincere sympathy. We all knew Lisa and the Jensen family and the news came as a shock to us all. I'm touched by the feelings expressed by the others in the guestbook and hope that it becomes full of wonderful anecdotes about a beautiful woman who shall always remain loved by many. Lots of love to the Jensen family. I almost feel I'm imposing in this guest book as Lisa's life touched mine for only a short time after Nathaniel started school at Glenquarry. Nearly a year and a half of quick chats in the sunshine of the school yard, catching our breath at the gym, discussing house plans and little boys. I never met Lisa, except through Tom's words. Tom is a truly exceptional person and listening to him, it was obvious that Lisa was a perfect match in many ways. I'm a rather stoic person. You can probably count the number of time I have cried at someone's passing on one hand. Add today to that count. I lost a sister in October of 2000. She also died unexpectedly of an apparent heart problem. She was 44 years young and left behind 2 small children also. Your tribute to Lisa is beautiful! What a way to keep her spirit alive. I understand your grief all too well. You have my heartfelt sympathy. I don't know anyone in the photos, but I would just like to thank you for reminding me how important our loved ones are. To always take the time to appreciate them as well as let them know that they are appreciated. What a lovely website. I can only now visit and it has brought me to tears. I really loved Lisa. She and I had a very special connection. She was always able to listen, was always learning from life and had such a warm presence about her. I miss her very much. I think of Tom and the kids often and how hard some of the lessons in life are. Our stay here is so brief. Thanks for letting her shine in this way. Lori What a lovely tribute to a lovely person...thanks for sharing her life's events... LISA... Tom, I had the pleasure of sitting at your lunch table during the 2001 ELH Conference. While doing some follow up research for my school I found your tribute to Lisa. Although physically only a few webpages, you have created a very beautiful and calm place to be. I am sorry for the loss to all your family of such a special person. hi, i was looking through websites that related to me and your page has touched me so much. As i read how lisa was she relates to me alot, i have family in australia and Denmark. I'm also danish myslef. We share the same interest's and with me only being 16 i hope that i will be able to furfill my life aswell as what lisa did. Its a beautiful website and it has inspired me to create one for my brother who sadly died. All my love xlisax I have just met Lisa through Tom & Co.'s ozline. I don't think it was an accident. What Tom has done in tribute to Lisa is inspiring to say the least. Clearly the world is a far better place for her all-too-brief time with us. Thank you, Tom, for such a concise, yet thorough and beautiful presentation of your beloved Lisa, a wonder-full spirit. Add your Comments? If so moved, please contribute your thoughts, feelings or memories to the guestbook. We hope this will provide a place for people to grieve, celebrate, and share memories that will honour Lisa and be important to our sons. Thank you. Portraits - The Jensens - Zen Practice - Careers - Friends Tom - Nathaniel - Aulden - Lisa's Lovely Boys / Read the Guestbook If a photo of you appears on this site and you'd like it removed or to suggest a caption, please contact Tom. First posted April, 2001 home: lisajensen.com |