Friday, September 4, 2015

DeLynn Powell: Wife, Mother, And Best Friend, Dies Of Cancer At 58; Husband Honors Her Memory By Continuing Mission

DeLynn Powell 8/10/57 - 8/05/15
It's been a month since my beloved wife DeLynn passed away, two days after our 25th wedding anniversary. She fought a courageous battle against colorectal and liver cancer for almost three years, taking every type of chemotherapy they could come up with, along with "home remedies" said to fight or even cure cancer.

Thousands of people from nearly every Christian denomination prayed for DeLynn's healing. Muslims prayed for her healing, as did viewers of other faiths; Atheists and Agnostics sent "good vibes" and "healing thoughts."

When she was brought home for the last time, from hospital to in-home hospice, we had an evangelistic Protestant minister come over to lay healing hands on her. He used Holy Water and oil blessed by the glove of Padre Pio that had been sent to us by a Catholic viewer several months ago as our entire family gathered around her bedside praying for her recovery.

I thought we had all of the bases covered, and that it was only a matter of time before I witnessed the miracle we had all been praying for. When DeLynn awoke from the coma she was in during the minister's visit and played a game of Yahtzee with us, I thought that miracle had been realized.

The Silver Anniversary Card Made By Our Friend Pam
We played a full card of Yahtzee - Me, DeLynn, and all of the kids - and each of us spent time talking with her. Alone. I was full of so much hope, she was so alive!

Then she said, "I'm tired. I think I'm going to lay down for a little bit." She lay down, she closed her eyes, and never woke up again.

At the time, I didn't know that she wouldn't wake up again. Since she was a diabetic, making sure her sugar remained around 300-400 (the level recommended by Hospice to keep her comfortable) was a challenge since she could not eat and IVs were not allowed under their rules.

For the last two days of her life I checked her sugar every hour, giving her insulin, or putting gelled sucrose on a swab and putting it in her mouth, whatever the readings on the glucose monitor indicated. Controlling her pain with oral Morphine and keeping her blood sugar between 300-400 became an obsession. It was the only thing I could control as the cancer continued to sap her strength.

Saying Goodbye: Our Last Moment Together
Finally, the entire family came to me and asked me to stop. They knew what I refused to accept: DeLynn was gone, and all that was left was an empty shell kept alive by sheer force of will; hers and mine combined. I was being selfish, prolonging her suffering, and it was time to let her go Home.

Exhausted, I agreed. I stopped monitoring her blood sugar so closely and six hours later her heart stopped beating and she was really, truly, gone.

For the last month I have struggled to come to terms with this new reality: My wife is with Jesus and no amount of begging, pleading, or cursing, is going to change that. The light of my life has been extinguished. The woman that has been the rock-solid center of this family as wife, mother, and best friend, is gone. Just gone.

I just noticed that I've used the same word several times in rapid succession, a no-no for any decent writer; but "gone" is what she is to me. It's how I feel. The word conveys, to me, a sense of purposelessness, that her death had no meaning other than to hurt and take away from those who loved her.

Bobby & DeLynn's Last Outing 2015
Had she been healed, I would have been on the air 24/7 praising God and proclaiming proof of His existence through my wife's miraculous healing. Now what do I have to proclaim? Thousands of people praying for her, laying on of hands through the Holy Spirit; and a beautiful, gentle, 58-year-young child of God still dies.

Where's the miracle in that? If I ever find it, I will let you know. Maybe all we rated was one last game of Yahtzee.

I want to thank everyone for their prayers, and the condolence cards sent to the P.O. Box. One viewer in particular - Rose - is in our hearts for the beautiful Heart-shaped memorial and book on grief by C.S. Lewis. Knowing that your support continues as I rearrange my life is invaluable.

Valuable as well, perhaps even more so, are the contributions made to The Truth Is Viral by Dr. David Rice, Pete Santilli, Tim Brown, Susan Duclos, and the rest of the TTiV admin staff. They are the ones that are keeping you informed and spiritually aware while I'm catching my breath, planning the next phase of my assault on the Antichrist.

Oh yeah, that's right. I'm neither Gen Douglas MacArthur, nor am I the Terminator, but you can bet your sweet bippy that "I'll be back." I'll be the first to admit that losing my mother and my wife within a month of each other - both to colorectal and liver cancer - right after losing my 24-year-old daughter to a heart attack, has been a blow. If I took a stress test I'd probably score in the "Why hasn't your head exploded yet?" category.

DeLynn Enjoys A Coney Dog 2015

I don't know what God has in store for my life, but I have come to the realization that my happiness doesn't mean that much to Him, not in the "short-term" anyway. He is interested in my long-term Salvation, and yours too.

I don't know how God will use me to spread His word in these very last days, but doing His will, glorifying His holy name, is all I have left. As I did after the inexplicably tragic death of my daughter, I am going to turn the direction of The Truth Is Viral over to the real "Editor-in-Chief," Jesus Christ, the Son of the One True Living and Almighty God, and let Him take me wherever He will.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, and supported by your prayers, I will "Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome." With the help of Almighty God, together we will "Save lives and win souls for Jesus Christ."

 

I want to make my girls, and my Savior, proud. On my Sacred Honor, I will.

God bless and Semper Fi,
Bobby Powell
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
The Truth Is Viral
www.bobpowell.blogspot.com

*Condolence cards may be sent to:
Bobby Powell
c/o The Truth Is Viral
PO Box 91
Alpena Mi
49707

SUMMER TOYS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS!