Chris Norris interviewed me for a placement at Proctor.  I was a freshman at Milton Academy and considered somewhat of a fac-brat. My father had been and English teacher, but had died when I was 8. My grandfather Arthur Perry had been headmaster, and my Uncle Phil Perry taught math. I was a bit too dyslexic but of luck or frustration, I got to go to Proctor’s wilderness challenge for the summer between 8^th and 9^th grade. Come freshman year at Milton, having failed Spanish 2 years and now failing Latin with a 40, the only thing I was good for was feeling shame in an academic family.  I was simply miserable and still lost without a father. 

Then somewhere came the idea of going up to Proctor.  I remember the drive up, going into Chris’s office and being interviewed. This guy seemed to know me, understand me right off the bat.  I was offered a place that semester but thought I would finish up my freshman year, then come as a sophomore. I was already feeling the odd one out, why make it worst? 

 Sophomore year I arrived like all other newbies, ready for Proctor’s wilderness challenge. My dorm was Thoreau house, and I joined the field hockey team. I had Chris, whom we called “C Bud” as one on of my teachers.  But he was more then that.  He was like a father figure that accepted me with all of my flaws.  He knew where the culture of which I was coming from and greeted me warmly. He opened my mind to Victor Frankle’s Man’s Search for Meaning and Farley Mowat’s The Boat Who Would not Float and Never Cry Wolf.  We journaled and he introduced me to the field of psychology. He had a Smilie jar on his desk filled with candy, and I would come to his office with the pretense of getting a sweet. But the reality was that I was coming for acceptance, which was given freely.  

My Junior year at Proctor I continued to go to his office. Once summoned because I had to after breaking a rule that was a Major offence.  Although it was not in the Green Book, it fell under “right action infraction”.  There was a boy that I liked and had his home phone number and back in the 80’s you could make a collect call from the pay phones in the dorm and charge it to another number. I did, but to somebody else. It was traced and came back to me.  I could not lie to C-Bud, told him why I did what I did and then I had to call my mother and tell her- I wasn’t kicked out- but pretty darn close. Chris walked me throught that. That call was like going over a cliff when rock climbing and you have to count on the person holding the safety line as you traversed down. Chris did that for me.   Take responsibility for your actions, whatever the outcome. Back then the outcome was getting a new name that had “major” in it.  Mando (mandatory study hall) and grounded to the dorm other than classes and sports.  You also had to serve meals in the cafeteria, so everybody knew you had done something. 

Senior year I was the photo editor of the Green Lantern Yearbook and we dedicated the book of ‘83 to Kit and Chris. I climbed the roof of the gym to take the inside photo and then when it was a potential “situation” I outed myself to Chris and took his photo for dedication.  On my senior page I stated I had grown so much and thanked him first in a list that looks like alphabet soup. 

Hearing the news today that he passed the threshold of the vail, I hope he will hold the side door open for me when it is my turn. When I made a fool of myself Holderness weekend in ’82 and was “in the presence of” another major infraction, it was at his and Kit’s home.  I learned the true meaning of Grace, unmerited forgiveness from Chris.  Live to Learn and Learn to Live was what he encouraged. I felt that he saw something in me that was real. At graduation I got some sort of award for tenacity, but more importantly, I got the gift of knowing that I had a purpose to serve others.  First as a Special Ed teacher, next as a mental health worker, a shepherd, and now as a Hospice Chaplain.  All of it comes from having one person in your life believe in you and see the potential.

I know I am but one of many he influenced, but to me his was one of the most influential people in my formation.  From that messed up dyslexic kid, to now a confident soul. To Kit and the rest of the family, my deepest sympathies and appreciation for you all sharing Chris with us. 

Alexandra (Perry) Jump ‘83