Appreciation

Everyone has a comfort zone. They come in all sizes. From being as large as any region that can fit on a map to a small circle around us comprising of our personal space and everything in between, we all have our comfort limits. 

It is often difficult for extroverts to understand the struggles less “outgoing” folks have in “team building” exercises; or for introverts to grasp how easily it is for some to have a five-hour conversation with a total stranger on a cross-country flight.

It could be for various reasons. As simple as the way we are wired or as complicated as our experiences. 

But God knows of the things for which He has made us and through which we are capable.

Just ask Ann Porter.

A few years after she and her late husband, Walter, were married in 1966, their church, First Baptist in Jefferson City, launched a program to “adopt” students from Carson-Newman. The program did not stir a lot of interest in either Ann, a wired introvert, or Walter, a loner whose PTSD from World War II made him a little “hard to get to know” according to Ann.

That was why Ann was surprised when Walter suggested venturing outside their comfort zone.

“One Sunday morning after we got home from church, Walter shocked me when he suggested we adopt a couple of students,” Ann told a reporter from The Standard Banner in Jefferson City. And so, it began. 

It started with a lunch. It ended, and we will get to that, as so much more.

By all accounts, Dr. Tracy Hartman was the first. Dr. Hartman, who has held many positions in the ministry and Christian education, was a high achiever. Graduating high school a year early, she came to Mossy Creek from her Maryland home nine hours away. Younger than most of her classmates, she was looking for some stability. She found it with the Porters, although she does not really know how.

“I signed up, and I guess the church matched us up,” Hartman told The Standard Banner. “I don’t remember how I got to be a Porter Kid and not somebody else’s kid, but I assume the church made those matches, and that’s how it all started.”

That is how it started, for Dr. Hartman and the Porters, small, simple, slow.

At first, it was Tracy Hartman and another student. Then, it grew from there. Roommates, friends, boyfriends would be invited for meals, to watch TV or do laundry. Grabbing lunch could turn into feeding eight or 10 students. Whoever showed up, the Porters welcomed them into their home.

Nearly five decades ago. It was a different time at Mossy Creek and in the world in general. Female students still were restricted in having their own cars, so Ann said Walter became a taxi service.

But it was more than lunch and laundry. While not tied by bloodlines, it was family. So much so, Ann and Walter discussed needing a bigger home – which they built a couple of miles further out between Jefferson City and New Market.

As often happens with God’s plans, Ann and Walter’s outreach had become much larger, and deeper, than they could have imagined that day Walter suggested adopting a couple of students. He is much more knowledgeable than we are of the things of which we are capable.

Word spread. Not just with students, but other members of the Carson-Newman family, including faculty.

Chemistry professor Frank Pinkerton, also a member at JCFBC, had multiple duties during this era, including serving as head coach of the Carson-Newman women’s tennis team. He had a student-athlete coming to Mossy Creek from France and the student’s mother had some angst with the distance. Dr. Pinkerton asked the Porters if they would add Patricia Rouchon to the fold. Of course, they said yes.

If it got too busy or noisy to study on campus, Patricia would head to the Porter home. As happens so often, people move in and out of our lives. But sometimes, even without our knowledge, foundations are laid. 

Ann said, when Walter passed in 2013, Patricia, then living in Cincinnati, left at 4 a.m. to make it to Jefferson County for the noon funeral. Ann was greatly moved when she saw her former adoptee. Now living in North Carolina, it is not uncommon for Patricia, on trips to Knoxville to visit family, to drop in to visit her former house mother.

There were more. Many, many more. Mostly female students, but, occasionally, a male as well. What started as a thought, a “what if” turned into much more. Walter enjoyed photography. On the wall of the Porter home is a tribute to those who came through the doors, particularly the ones who stayed – the “Porter Kids.” 

Reflecting a 17-year period from 1975-1992, the wall holds 115 photos. The images are of a different era. The faces in them, looking back at those viewing the wall, are younger, of course, with their world ahead of them.

Interesting things happen with time. Reflection often takes place, memories of another time. Sometimes, occasionally, the motivation arises to reach out. Ann has experienced it, receiving periodic contact from a Porter Kid. There are no former Porter Kids. Like a Marine, once one, always one. That is what the wall represents.

The notes, messages, calls and texts contain words like “grateful” and “blessing.” They are full of appreciation for the decision Walter and Ann made all those years ago to provide a home away from home.

Virginia (Sullivan) Sims, Class of 1980 is one. She contacted Ann with an apology that it had taken so long. Life had taught her, she said, to tell people how much they mean to you. She said the Porters were special, a “blessing from God,” and that time in their house remained one of her favorite memories of Carson-Newman.

Ann considers the students, the Porter Kids, blessings as well. They helped with Walter’s PTSD. They provided more memories than can be counted. Saying “God had a hand in our decision” and in the hearts of every student who accepted the hospitality, friendship and love. She and Walter benefited as much as the students did.

A quote, or reasonable facsimile of it, attributed to author E.B. White fits here. “I arise in the morning,” White said, “torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world.”

For the Porter Kids, Ann and Walter did both. And the appreciation is mutual. All the way around.