November 9, 2004 in City

Girl has excelled amid coalition of caring

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Colin Mulvany photo

Brian Hoerner, a software engineer from Itronix, shows Evergreen Elementary School student Deborah Gardner, 12, her new laptop computer that was donated by the company.
(Full-size photo)

Deborah Gardner, a 12-year-old who was born without arms, is a lucky girl.

She has extraordinary parents, a rainbow coalition of caring brothers and sisters, and classmates at Evergreen Elementary School who lend a protective eye.

Gardner’s friends outside her inner circle also are quick to offer help. The most recent act of kindness came Oct. 30 when Spokane company Itronix gave her a refurbished laptop.

Brian Hoerner, senior principal engineer, delivered the gift to Gardner’s home on North White House Drive, where a crowd gathered around the dining room table as Gardner admired her new computer.

“A lot of people know a lot of people,” said Annette M. Romesburg, occupational therapist in the Mead School District, who put out feelers to local companies last spring.

The laptop – heavy-duty in case it’s dropped – will make it easier for Gardner to transport class assignments back and forth from school.

It didn’t take long for her to start navigating around her new computer, touching the built-in mouse pad with one of her two fingers.

“I’ve been learning quite a few things lately, so this will come in handy,” said Gardner, never taking her eyes off the computer screen.

Gardner was born in Smolensk, Russia, in 1992 with stubs for arms. The delayed development could have been the result of a mother who abused drugs or alcohol, said Gardner’s adoptive mother, Michele Gardner.

Gardner has learned to function with the one finger on each of her deformed hands. She also has taught herself to do things such as write, brush her teeth and comb her hair with her feet. Her desk at school has been custom-built low to the ground. Her classmates help with daily tasks such as zipping her jacket when they run out for recess.

Gardner’s life changed dramatically in 1997 when she was adopted by Michele and Steve Gardner, when they were living in Taiwan. She was the second adopted child to join the family, after Rebekah, now 15, whom they adopted from China.

Michele and Steve’s oldest children, Peter, 20, Aaron, 18, and Susannah, 16, are birth children.

“Our oldest son saw this little picture of Deborah in an adoption magazine waving her stubs around and he said, ‘I think we should adopt her,’ ” Michele said.

But the Gardners thought it might be too challenging. For starters, they didn’t know whether Deborah was suffering from developmental delays caused by fetal alcohol syndrome.

“My son said, if we weren’t going to adopt her. … ‘At least, I’m going to pray for her,’ ” Michele said.

Peter’s compassion got to his parents. Several months later, the couple adopted Deborah, an alert, smart and loving child.

As a sixth-grader at Evergreen, Gardner is in mainstream classes. She also meets regularly with Romesburg, who helps her with such things as her posture.

Michele and Steve, both educators, grew up on the West Coast and moved to Spokane in 2000. Their extended family has grown to 10-strong, since the additions of 12-year-old John from India, and 9-year-old Andrew and 18-month-old Dinah, both from Ethiopia. It is likely they will adopt more.

Because of their experiences, the Gardners have become experts on international adoptions, and are often sought out for advice.

Three years ago, they founded a nonprofit organization called Kingdom Kids Adoption Ministry. The main purpose is to organize conferences, which they have run worldwide, raise money and write and distribute resources about adoption.

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