Almost 8 years since you’ve been gone. I miss you so much and i see you wherever i go. In the sky on a rainy day when the clouds break and the sun peaks through. That’s how you were like, even in the darkest moments you never let it put out your light. To know you was to love you and for me to be in your life is one of the biggest blessings god has ever given me. I see you in the flowers that grow on the farm; beautiful . They can handle the biggest storms yet they sit there like they were before. You took on rough battles and never let it turn you bitter. My favorite memory with you was when uncle ronnie passed and everyone went to the hospital but you couldn’t and i refused to leave you and we watched modern family and you said “don’t tell your mom or she’ll kill both of us”. Now whenever i hear Sofia Vergara all i can think about is our giggles on the couch watching it on your Ipad. I love you so much and I miss you.
Love, your little spider monkey Emerson

May the warm sun and gentle breeze of the sea carry your sweet spirt. Your laughter and kindness will always be remembered..

I read the many memories of Sara that her family and friends shared below and can feel the love and peace that is generated from their words. I did not know Sara but I know her Aunt Jan who is a dear friend of mine. I love the Baird family. They are the kindest, sweetest, most thoughtful people. Sara is much loved and loved much.

Courtney- So very sad for you! You have been and will continue to be in my thoughts and prayers!

Some of my most memorable childhood years were spent playing with Shelly aka Sara when I lived on Martz Paulin. It was 3 short years but some of the best years of my childhood. We played in the snow, played in the leaves, swam, bounced from the porter's house to my house to the other neighbors homes, seems most of our waking summertime hours were spent outside playing. I remember my dad taking us all to McDonald's for lunch on several occasions, riding bikes, playing our sheds, we were always into something. We would wait in anticipation for the ice cream truck, pool our money together so everyone could get ice cream and off to playing again. Sara was kindhearted, fun, caring, and an overall good hearted person. I will forever be thankful for the time God allowed Sara and the Porter family in my life, your impact on my life is eternal and the memories will last forever. Love you all and see you in heaven one day Sara, my dear childhood friend.

Rest in peace Sara. Everyone who knew you will miss you terribly, but as Tia and Emerson believe, you will always be watching over them. I now have another angel to pray to.

My heartfelt sympathies to all of your family, Al. You are all in my thoughts and prayers.

John Curnias- Brother in Law

We will miss you so much. We all love you and I am going to miss our talks on the porch. It has been a blessing to have you in my life. You were the most loving Aunt to my children and I believe they have your strength. There are two quotes I think you exemplified by R.W. Emerson. 
"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." You knew that was my favorite quote. The other is "it is not length of life, but depth of life." Needless to say your life was a tremendous success. You will be missed but you will always be here. Thank you for sharing your time here and letting me be part of your life.

Love Always,

Your Brother in Law

Al, Phyllis and Courtney,

My thoughts and prayers go out to you at this very sad time. May all of the wonderful memories of Sara give you comfort. With love, Diane

Love and prayers to Courtney and family during this most difficult time. Know that we deeply are sorry for the passing of Sara and that all of you are in our thoughts and prayers. Love Jim, Sue and Christina Curnias

Al, Phyllis and Courtney, We are so sorry for the lose of Sara. The few times we were around her were fantastic. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

To The Family:

I am very sorry for your.loss. It can be hard for friends and family to find the right thing to say. Thankfully, we can echo the comforting words that we read in the Bible. At Revelation 21:4 it tells us that the God of all comfort will soon do away with all suffering, sickness, tears, and death. Daniel 12:2 tells us that God will even undo the effects of death at that time. Until then, may your loving memories of Sara bring you comfort during this difficult time. Your family has my sincerest condolences.

Sara (or Shelly as we called her growing up) and I have a lot of fond & funny memories. Every summer, our family drove to Ohio and we stayed with them. Sara and I would catch fireflies at night, dunked our sisters in the plastic pool in the back and as we got older, shared life's ups and downs about adulthood and relationships. She had a heart bigger than this world itself and was the most honest and "upfront" person I ever knew. When I decided to run for an elected position in my city, she told me, "go for it. You've got more______s than I do!" Our last, fun time was at Courtney's wedding and I can't even begin to go into those stories, but I will never forget how we were glued together at that event! My only regret is that we didn't live closer. I'm going to miss (dearly) our late/early chats on Facebook. In God's time, I will see you again. ??????

We would like to send our sincere condolences. It is so sad to lose a loved one in death. Many don't know the right words to say ..... but Gods Word, the bible has TRUE comfort. Soon God's perfect government will rule over mankind, (Matthew 6:10) Under that kingdom rule that we all pray for, God promises that "no resident will say I am sick",( Isaiah 33:24) no death, no suffering, nor tears.(Revelation 21: 3,4) We will be able to live forever here on earth "in the abundance of peace."(Psalms 37:11, 29) May it comfort you to know that The Most High God has resurrected humans before and He assures us He will do it again. (Acts24:15). God longs to bring back those who have fallen asleep in death to perfect health under paradisaic conditions. (Job14:14,15) To learn more.... including why God would allow this to happen, visit www.jw.org, click on publication, then books and brochures, and search for the brochure When Someone You Love Dies. We send you our Christian love. Darren and Shellye Andrus

Although I never knew Sara as an adult, I remember what a sweet, adorable girl she was when I babysat her and Courtney. I was fortunate to grow up behind the Porters and get to know them and their children.

I met Sara through her cousins/friends Clint & Traci, in early 2001ish. We spent a day driving around the hills of Ohio of which from Columbus, I never thought we actually had such beautiful countryside before. Sara is a spirit. She had a charm about her, adventurous, yet i dunno, fragile. As a sucker for retro and anything antiques I remember going to a farm with her to haggle over old rusty coca cola bottles, old things, stuff you just don't see every day. We didn't buy anything but the farm owner just had a liter of kittens and of course Sara had to have one. Driving back to Columbus we stopped at Walmart to buy essentials for our new kin. By far one of the most memorable drives back to town that day, with a wild kitten that slid all over dashboard as it tried to constantly grasp for Sara's attention. She kept that cat. Hope its somewhere. I know the cat and I will miss Sara but I have to think her spirit stays alive in the hills of Ohio, on the beaches in a distant island community and in the hearts of those she touched and loved her.

I miss Aunt Sara and I wish you a happy afterlife. I will miss snuggling with you and reading books. I will miss playing hungry hungry hippos with you. I love you so much.

Love,

Emerson

I miss having tickle fights and her calling me and Emerson spider monkeys.I miss her dearly and know she will be watching over me every day.


 Love your niece forever,
 Tia

Family reunion, I think 2005, I believe we had all just gotten back from our Alaskan cruise...Sara and I sat in the parking lot and talked for a long time just about "stuff" and I will never forget that. She was just a joy to be around, I will so miss her smile and upbeat attitude

I met Sara in the 1980's while visiting my cousins who lived across the street from her. I was lucky to get to play Star Wars and Smurfs with them all. She was one of my closest friends in high school and I will forever have such wonderful memories of the fun we had in the summers as lifeguards at the Miamisburg pool. She was able to drive before I could and I have fun memories of us going to the mall, having a Reese's sundae at Friendly's or even cleaning out her horse stall. I remember we were driving home from the mall in the rain and her windshield wiper flew off. We drove home about 20 miles an hour laughing and taking turns sticking our heads out the window in order to see. Sara could make any activity a true adventure. She shared so many of her adventures in DC with me and I still have a letter she wrote on "cloak room" stationary from Congress. 
 
We reconnected after college one night in the surgical ICU at University Hospital in Cincinnati. She was interning as an RN and I was an RT. I got the opportunity to work with her for a few weeks as she was interning and witnessed what a very intelligent and thoughtful nurse she was. We visited in Cincinnati a few months while she worked at Children's hospital and I can remember her begging me to bring in White Castle when she worked one night...just another adventure. 

 Sadly, we lost touch over the years as we moved out of state but did reconnect some since 2011. Her last message to me on facebook ended with " I have a long recovery ahead, but I'm made of strong stuff:)". And she really was made of strong stuff. 

Bless you Sara and all of your family. You are all in my prayers.
Kristy Bates-Holmes and Family

Sara was my next door neighbor when I worked on St. Croix. She always said we lived in the 'cool kids' section of the complex. I always felt welcome to go next door and hang out. EXCEPT on 'chick night-sex in the city marathon viewing'. Ladies only! What a fun person to know, to talk politics with, to hang out with and to call a friend. Rest in peace, Sara. You will be missed.

I was always excited to hear about her new adventures. From being a page in the Senate, becoming RN, traveling nurse. I was so proud of her and talked about her to friends about how intelligent she was and she would tackle anything. My sons have even said how they always admired her and all the things she had done. She certainly was an inspiration to us all.

Unfortunately, I don't have any memories of Sara to share, but I do have a poem that I would like to share with Sara's family and friends. I believe, after reading this poem, that you will agree this author wrote this poem specifically with Sara in mind.

God looked around His garden
 and he found an empty space;
He then looked down upon the earth
 and saw your tired face.
He put His arms around you
 and He lifted you to rest;
God's garden must be beautiful 
 for He only takes the best.
He knew that you were suffering,
 He knew you were in pain;
He knew that you would never
 get well on earth again.
He saw the road getting rougher,
 and the hills so hard to climb,
So He closed your weary eyelids
 and He whispered, "Peace is thine."
It broke our hearts to lose you,
 but you didn't go alone,
For part of us went with you 
 on the day God took you home.
Though your smile is gone forever
 and your hands we cannot touch,
We will always have sweet memories
 of the one we love so much.

 Author Unknown

My fondest memories of Sara would be, w/out question, when she was in Washington DC serving as a Senate Page under the sponsorship of Senator John Glenn. I had returned to the DC area from a recent tour overseas and would be living there for approximately two years. So timing is everything. She had what was to become a very hectic schedule. She would attend school in the morning and then it was off to the Capitol Building to fulfill her duty as a Page. Depending on what was going on the days could be long. Once she got settled into somewhat of a routine and had some spare time on the weekend I would get a call asking if I was going to be home and, if so, could she come over. The Metro system was within walking distance of my apartment making transportation getting there a piece of cake. I soon found out that sleeping was high on the agenda of things to do. Followed closely by a meal. This put my culinary skills to the test. Sometimes she would bring another Page w/her and they both would simply "crash"! I could go out and shop come back and not a peep. I would either try my luck with a casserole or get out the CrockPot. They would have a meal before they headed back. I would get some cookies and brownies baked to send back with them. I would get an occasional call telling me someone was going to be testifying before Congress that she thought I would might like to see and, if so, come over and she would get me thru security. There was another time she called because she knew how much I liked "Cheers" and she told me that Ted Danson was going to be there testifying before Congress & if I wanted to come over let her know. I took off work for this one. There are too many stories to share here, but she would tell me the fun times she would have when the parents would come to visit. Again food came into play & if you were lucky and could get off during lunch you might get in on a free meal. I knew she enjoyed being a Page when she asked to stay for another semester. It was approved and she stayed for a full school year. During this time I got a call telling me to be sure and watch the State of the Union Address as she would be on the floor that night! She told me where to look if the camera should scan this part of the chamber. Yes, I did see her. What an extraordinary experience for someone at age 16 to get up in the morning and attend classes at the top of the Library of Congress then leave and walk over to the Capitol Building and spend the rest of her day working for all those Senators, seeing and meeting the occasional World Leader!!!! Not bad. Not bad at all! I feel certain Sara would agree her experience as a Page would be a hard one to top! I am a proud Aunt who was delighted to have her as a "Namesake".

I lived next door to the Porters for many years in Carlisle. I also babysat Sara and Courtney for many years. Sara was friends with my brother so they would run around and play all the time. She was such a cute little girl and grew up to be a beautiful young lady.I hated to see the Porters move and have not seen them in many years, but have thought about them often.

I have many childhood memories as we would drive from Florida to Ohio every summer and vacation together, and I looked forward to it as you, Courtney, Debbie, and I always had fun together. The last time we were able to see each other is when I flew up after Grandma's passing and we all went to this little carnival in town. I remember you and I were eating everything we could get our hands on and I said to you I think I am going to be sick and your reply was suck it up we're not done we still have a funnel cake to eat!!! That was you, always outgoing and full of spunk!! I just wish we didn't live so far apart and could have spent more time together. I will miss our little chats on Facebook and your always upbeat outlook on life. You always made me smile!!!

When Sara was 16, she asked me if I would teach her how to drive stick shift. We went to the parking lot of Carlisle HS to begin the lessons. As you can imagine, her first time trying to drive stick was start, stall, start, stall. While she was working on figuring out how to coordinate shifting, clutch and the gas, we noticed a hobo type guy walking towards us across the parking lot. I remember telling her to go, go, go.....but it was to no avail. While Sara was saying lock the door, lock the door, he walked on by us and we collapsed laughing in our seats. Her comment to me later was never to have her drive the get away car if it was a stick.
P.S. She actually caught on quickly and became quite good at driving my little Honda.

I'll share more later, but for now.............One afternoon when I was visiting the Porter Ranch in Peebles, Sara and I decided to take our .357 mag. pistols out and do a little target shooting! We set up a sawhorse down toward the pond, put some cans on it an started firing!! We were doing pretty good, but many of our shots were hitting the sawhorse. The .357 is a pretty powerful handgun and with a direct hit on the sawhorse, we would actually turn it over every once in a while.........it got to be that it was more fun to shoot at the sawhorse than the cans!! When we finished shooting we picked up the sawhorse and noticed that we had riddled it so bad it looked like it had been attacked by a swarm of passing termites! I told Sara we might ought to hide that 'horse' since her Dad might not appreciate a bullet riddled sawhorse in his shop!! 
Sara was one heck of a young woman.........I'm proud to be her Uncle!!

OBITUARY

Sara Porter-Kofod

June 24, 1975 – February 19, 2014

Anderson Funeral Home

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