A close-knit family, the Warners have seven children, who they try to teach the joy of giving to others.
the time. It was Kurt. He had gotten her address from mutual friends and wanted to meet her kids. “Zachary heard his voice and, being blind, his hearing is impeccable. He immediately took Kurt’s hand and walked him around the entire house,” Brenda said. “Finally, they came into the living room and were wrestling on the floor. I remember thinking I didn’t have to explain Zack’s disability. We dated from then on.” Brenda was a U.S. Marine Corps corporal when her first husband, also in the military, accidentally dropped their 4-month-old baby Zack while bathing him. The injury left Zack brain-damaged and blind, causing Brenda to get a hardship discharge from the Marines in 1990. Doctors told Brenda she’d be lucky if Zack ever sat up. She was 21 at the time. “I think the Marine Corps taught me to step up and do what you have to do,” Brenda said. “When you’re in that mode, you’re not thinking about the future. You’re just hoping he doesn’t have a seizure and makes it through that day.” But when Kurt stepped into her life, Brenda allowed herself to start thinking about a future. “Kurt fell in love with the kids right away. I was tougher to fall in love with,” she said. Yet Brenda 24 FRONTDOORS MEDIA | DECEMBER 2019
recognized there was something different about him. “I mean, what 21 year old starts dating a divorced mother of two who is 25 with two kids, on food stamps, living in her parents’ basement? He did, and did it well.” For his part, Kurt found someone who believed in him and his dreams. Brenda stood by him during the lean years of trying to make it as a professional athlete, following him from city to city. “Brenda has been there from day one. She shaped everything, from my perspective on life to helping me grow up,” Kurt said. The two married in 1997 and began living their improbable dream. Kurt officially adopted Brenda’s two kids, Zack and Jesse, and had five more of their own: Cade, Jada, EJ and twins Sienna and Sierra. Today Zack is 30 and, despite his old doctors’ dim prognosis, is walking, talking and changing lives. Like a lot of families of kids with disabilities, Kurt and Brenda thought Zack would always be with them. But they came to realize they were holding Zack back. He had graduated from high school, where he took part in work programs and thrived. But after that, he was home full-time in a busy house with six other kids and a family with lots of