Kerrie was born on October 5, 1996 in Seoul, Republic of Korea and she became our daughter when we traveled to Korea in April 1997 to bring her home–she was 6 months old when she became a part of our family.
She is missing a portion of her left arm–she has a few inches below her left elbow on down and that’s it.. We were told by doctors here in the USA that it was due to ABS. But she has never let that stop her!! Somewhere between 3-1/2 to 4 yrs of age she learned to tie her shoes–on her own and with no help… She just figured it out herself–when she told me she knew how to tie her shoes I said “Oh, Kerrie” and she said “I can do it–I’ll show you”. And she did..
Kerrie never asks for help-if you offer her help (as I made the mistake of doing once) she told me “Please Mom, I can do it MYself”… Another time, when I was getting her out of her car seat booster, she was so funny. Normally she rode on the right side of the van but for some reason I’d had to put her seat on the left. If it’s on the right, she can undo the buckle herself with her right hand, but it’s difficult when it’s on the left side of the car. I repeatedly asked her to please undo the seat belt and she kept looking at me and refusing to budge.. Finally I said “Kerrie! PLEASE! Undo your belt now!” She heaved a sigh and with the most exasperated look on her face she proceeded to tell me “Well Mom–if my arm was longer and I had more fingers maybe I could but I can’t.” I suddenly realized that she was on the left side and couldn’t as well as if she were on the right.. We’re so used to her doing everything we took it for granted!!
Kerrie is now 7 and a 2nd grader in home school and doing so well. She has a definite artistic bent which we’re encouraging and she got a scooter for her birthday which she rides all over the place and with no problems!
