Okay, well first of all ⁓ we met each other as friends and so we developed a relationship. And so we got married and we have four other kids. ⁓ So we had Darryl and ⁓ so Darryl.

He was a baby that started doing everything early. He started walking early, started talking early, all of that. So we just assumed we had a little genius on our hands. ⁓ so when he turned two and a half, that’s when he start ⁓ having seizures. My mother-in-law, used to watch him, and so she would notice some things about him. So after that, we kind of…

took him to the doctor and that’s when we realized that he was diagnosed with epilepsy and a seizure disorder. Yeah. Yeah.

Brandi Lewis (02:07)
Okay, wow, that’s gotta be hard to hear and

hard to take up as parents also. So Darryl was the youngest out of five, am I correct? Okay, yeah. And then he’s named after you, Darryl. So tell us on your side, I would like to know getting that news of, well, back to the seizures, having seizures and getting that news, how did that feel?

Darryl And Cynthia (02:23)
Yes, correct.

Brandi Lewis (02:36)
for you as a parent ⁓ of just not knowing what to do.

Darryl And Cynthia (02:40)
Well, that’s exactly how was. You don’t know what to do. ⁓ Most of the time, in our experience anyway, when we went to the ER, they told us not to panic, that it could be several reasons why, that he’s had these seizures, and we’ll just have to wait and see.

So we were kind of in a prayerful mode, but we were hoping that they would pass because we were told that there’s a possibility that this could just be a phase. And we found out over time that it wasn’t a phase, it was a condition. And so it was, it’s pretty devastating when you hear because

You go two and a half years and you’ve got this perfect job. And now all of a sudden, you got a major problem. It disrupts everything in your life, everything that you thought you were going to do, you can’t do. All the places you thought that you wanted to go or maybe to go, you limit it. You couldn’t go. It affects your work life. It affects your…

You know sometimes when things like this happens and ⁓ I’m not ashamed to say it, you know, it just kind of shakes your faith. You know, it just kind of rattles you. ⁓ And so you have to, sometimes have to regroup. And that’s what we had to do. We had to regroup and say, okay, God is still God. We are who we are and we have what we have. ⁓ And we looked to… ⁓

our faith to carry us through. I think that the reason why, I hope I’m not getting ahead, and the reason why we’ve been as successful as we have been in our marriages because of our faith. We just believe that God will always keep us in a position so that we can be successful at a level and we can be helpful at a level and that God bless us with a little angel.

So we got custody of an angel. So that’s the way we look at it. And you always have to put a positive spin on it because if not, it can destroy you. So I may have talked a little too much.

Brandi Lewis (05:16)
Yeah.

No, no, that is so good. That’s,

it just made me think back to all of the stories I’ve heard so far on my podcast. they’re just stories about life and resilience, just like your story and how a lot of people talk about how maybe they didn’t know that God, found God, or they had and built a stronger relationship with God. They learned more about faith and hope.

in the face of fear, like what that looks like. So I think that’s really beautiful and it adds to all the other stories. But I do want to talk about just kind of those hard moments because I think that’s what people that are listening to hear is, know, when it gets hard, what is it that you do? What is it that you did once you knew that he was diagnosed at two and a half years when it was hard?

What was it that you looked to it and what how did you do that? What actions did you take?

Darryl And Cynthia (06:14)
Well first of all, first of all we prayed. ⁓ We feed off of each other and so if we are, like I said earlier, we’re friends and we’re friends and we’re married and all of that. But it ⁓ gets to a point where you kind of, you get frustrated and you get ⁓ doubtful.

and you get kind of like, you kind of think about, well, as a mother, you kind of think about, well, what did I do? What did I not do? And so you kind of doubt yourself, you kind of fault yourself, you kind of get to a point where, you you just question yourself. And so when…

When things get hard, we kind of talk to each other about it. We kind of get frustrated with each other. I’m not gonna act like everything is, we do love each other, but sometimes you get that frustration. Sometimes I kind of vent out on him, he kind of vent out on us. But at the end of the day, we come together and we just try to do the best that we can because we are human.

And so we get that frustration. so things have really been hard. Things are still kind of hard with him because our whole life centers around him. So every morning that we wake up, our day is going to start at how Darryl wakes up. So ⁓ we’ve been together for 32 years. So we’ve been dealing with this for at least 20, 20-something years.

We just handle it. We really don’t know how we have handled it. It is by the grace of God that we’re actually still together. It’s by the grace of God that we want to stay together. So it gets frustrating sometimes. Yeah, know, during the hard times and there were years and years and years of hard times because Darrell seizures ⁓ evolved. It started out when they were just

absence seizures where he would just stare and then it evolved to drop attacks which is just awful because he can be talking to you and all of sudden it’s just like turn on lights which he’s out boom it’s gone just like that and so my wife had to quit her job I think she’s been through about

Brandi Lewis (08:51)
Gosh.

Darryl And Cynthia (08:58)
Just twice, I thought it was more than three times. Well, let’s say two or three times. Yeah, I did. So every time that happens, it affects your finances. But there have been really, really tough times, really, really hard times, where we were faced with financial ruin a lot of times, but God kept us and got us to a place where we could get on our feet.

bad part about that is that that will last for a year, a couple of years, and then it happens again. Because Darrell’s seizures would evolve to something else. So now we’re dealing with something else. And since I was on my job, the longest my wife was always the one that would usually stay at home with him during those times. what we did was, one of my biggest concerns was, I had two concerns I had.

Brandi Lewis (09:35)
Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (09:58)
⁓ concerned for my son, of course, but also had concern for my wife because she was at home and she had to deal with this all the time. I’m gone for nine hours, but she’s at home and she’s dealing with everything that he’s dealing with. She’s having to react to it. She’s having to fix it. She’s having to pray over him. She’s having to intercede for him. And at the same time, was concerned a lot of times was

Brandi Lewis (10:08)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (10:27)
Mentally, how are you? And I would ask her all the time, you how are you doing? You know, you okay? And of course she would always say, yeah. Sometimes she would say no. But what I tried to do as a father, would always try to get her out the house, you know, go somewhere, go do something, walk in the mall. You know, I got it for today. I got it the weekend. You do what you want to do. And so I’m proud for that that helped her to.

Brandi Lewis (10:29)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (10:56)
to maintain her sanity. ⁓ when you’re dealing with, and I know the other parents I did was dealing with autism ⁓ and all kind of other things, ⁓ which is a challenge, just unbelievable autism. But ⁓ with Darryl, his seizures are what they call idiopathic, meaning they could happen at any time.

⁓ You know, we’re going along three or four days and we’re great. Now, tomorrow, tonight, everything changes. So, and that can affect you for a day, that can affect you two days, or it can affect you a week. So, that has been our challenge is trying to balance our life as wife and husband with his care and also a work life.

Brandi Lewis (11:31)
and

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (11:54)
So it’s just been one challenge after another, but like she said, we bounce off of each other. I can tell when she’s had enough and there are times when you just got enough, you just can’t take it no more, you know, and I can tell that. And I hope she can pick it up in me that, okay, you need a break. And so we bounce it off each other because like she said, when we first met, we were friends.

Brandi Lewis (12:05)
Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (12:24)
before we started dating, before we got married, we were really, really good friends. And so that friendship has helped us and evolved throughout our relationship. It never changed. You know, I always tell people, yeah, she’s my wife, but she’s my best friend. You know, she’s my best friend first. Before she’s my wife, you know, because there’s an obligation there. But she’s my best friend. So I think that in the hard times that we…

We relied on each other’s ⁓ friendship.

Brandi Lewis (12:58)
you

Darryl And Cynthia (12:59)
And I think that friendship and that love has kept us together. I can’t think of ever leaving her and Darryl. Can’t. It’s just not in me. I can’t do it. Thought never entered my mind, but even in the real, real hard times, sometimes my wife got a thing she called pillow therapy.

Brandi Lewis (13:27)
Thank

Darryl And Cynthia (13:28)
that sometimes you just have to get a pillow and you just have to scream in it and you have to scream in it and you have to scream in it till you can’t scream anymore. And, you know, I laughed at her for years about it and then one day I tried it and I thought, this feels pretty good. You know, this, yeah. And then she’s got this other thing called mirror therapy where she gets in front of the mirror and she talks to herself. She, you know, it’s like her, her, her,

Brandi Lewis (13:34)
true.

you

Yeah, that’s so funny.

Darryl And Cynthia (13:57)
vision board. You know, she tells herself all the things that she want. She doesn’t talk about what she don’t have or what the challenges are, but she talks about the future and what’s better, not what’s happening and what’s worse. And I thought, well, that’s kind of, you know, what a lady would do. then one day I got into the mirror, got in front of the mirror and thought, hey, this is pretty good.

Brandi Lewis (13:58)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, it worked.

Darryl And Cynthia (14:25)
You know,

it helps. It helps. And ⁓ during the hard times, that’s what we relied on. We relied on each other. You know, our kids were older and they had their own lives. And so they would help us some, but, you know, they had their own thing. really, you know, ninety nine, ninety eight percent of ninety nine percent of everything that went on Darryl, we had to do it. Yeah. So we we.

Brandi Lewis (14:42)
again.

Darryl And Cynthia (14:53)
Like she said, we bounced off each other. You know, sometimes she would just walk out like, okay, I can’t do this today. Okay. I didn’t get mad. I understood. So now, you know, it’s Captain Dad’s time. It’s my time. Right, right. So, and that’s what we did during the tough times. Sometimes we tend to walk away. You know, sometimes she’d just get in the car and just drive. And I keep saying her,

Brandi Lewis (15:08)
Yeah, you’re tapped in. Yeah, she’s like, got to tap out for a minute. Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (15:22)
because she was with him all of the time. I didn’t have to deal with any of the things that she had to

Brandi Lewis (15:25)
Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (15:31)
financially, you know, that was my challenge. That was my thing. You know, I just had to figure out how to make this thing work, how to get these bills paid and, know, medical care and doctor appointments and prescriptions and they’re out, but you got to have this. When you know, when you got a seizure med, it’s like, you can’t be out. You gotta have it, you know, so.

Brandi Lewis (15:36)
Mm-hmm.

And the benefits too, bet. Yeah. Medical care, all of that. Yeah. That was you.

Mm-hmm.

Darryl And Cynthia (16:01)
You know, you don’t have it. Okay, well, if I need to drive to Tuscaloosa, guess what I need to do? I need to drive to Tuscaloosa. So, and that’s what, I think this was really got us through the tough time has been our friendship, our faith first, and our friendship. And one of the other things that I left out is communication. You know, we’re not afraid to talk to each other. We’re not afraid to tell each other how we really feel.

Brandi Lewis (16:07)
You’ll do it. Yeah.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (16:33)
We’re not afraid to tell each other the hurt that we’re feeling in the moment. We’re not afraid to do any of that. We’re open with each other and if it’s just digging in her, she just tells me just flat out, just no chase or just straight. This is how I feel. And I think that helps her, it helps me.

But I think that is an integral part of our relationship is that we’re always able to talk to each other. We’re always able to talk to each other, so.

Brandi Lewis (17:08)
There’s so much good in what y’all both have said. And I laugh and smile because ⁓ I don’t know if you, well, I haven’t shared this with y’all, but I was diagnosed with two rare blood disorders at the age of 19. So talk about a disrupt to a family, I understand. But I was the person, I was the disruptor to the family. ⁓ But your story really, I hear so much of my parents and your story of the communication and

Darryl And Cynthia (17:25)
I’m

Yeah.

Brandi Lewis (17:38)
how as you have to, one had to tap in, one had to tap out. And now that I’m so much further, I’m 15 plus years out now, thankfully, but now I hear stories where my mom was like, I had to just take a drive and cry. She was like, I had to walk away. I didn’t want you to see me cry, but I had to do that. Or the pillow talk was me. I have screamed in a pillow so much, but I’ve never like…

Darryl And Cynthia (17:47)
Yeah.

Yeah. ⁓

Brandi Lewis (18:04)
come up with the word, it’s like a phrase for it. I’m probably always going to use that, but it’s so true. I’ve done those things in it. And it’s, it’s so funny how in your story, you guys still talk about how that friendship and how you guys have had that friendship in your relationship, but that it seems like has been the barrier for you guys getting through all the obstacles. And it’s like, ⁓ that friendship,

Darryl And Cynthia (18:28)
yeah.

Brandi Lewis (18:31)
Yes, you guys are married and like you said, it’s an obligation, but having that friendship is not an obligation. That’s something that you both chose to do, which is so beautiful, but it’s gotten you through those obstacles and the obstacles you’re still going through. And that’s why I love about different stories like y’all’s is how you’re getting through it and just the honesty and the realness of life being hard and…

Darryl And Cynthia (18:34)
Right.

Right. ⁓

Exactly.

Brandi Lewis (18:56)
how something happened within your life that you probably never imagined. Like you said, you thought you were going to have a healthy, beautiful boy. You you probably had plans for his life and now this is where you are. But at the same time, you were taking it head on. And I think that is what’s so beautiful in your story. One thing I do want to talk about also, I do want to talk about Daryl and him growing up. So how old is Daryl now?

Darryl And Cynthia (19:01)
Never a man. Yes. Absolutely. Right.

He’s 32.

Brandi Lewis (19:27)
Okay. So yeah, I want to talk about how it was in that childhood phase of his life. ⁓ What were some of the complications, the obstacles you guys had to face ⁓ now that he’s probably in elementary, middle school at this point?

Darryl And Cynthia (19:52)
Well, Darrell is really ⁓ a people person. He loves people. ⁓ Your mom knew him in middle school. ⁓ So for him to develop ⁓ there, and then he went to the high school. So Darrell,

He’s just a fun kid. He’s just a fun guy. ⁓ He grew up, he had a smart mouth. So we had to adjust with that. still has that. at two. And ⁓ so he loves people. He loves music. He just loves different activities. He loves football. He’s gotten into…

Brandi Lewis (20:20)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (20:39)
basketball now. So I think now, like when he was smaller, he didn’t really have those a lot of opportunities because of the seizures. And so it kind of hurt my heart when he was telling me how the other kids were doing things and he wasn’t able to do them. And so when I tried to show him things or teach him things, he would get it for a minute. But then like when he had the seizures,

It just wiped everything away. So it was frustrating. I know it was frustrating to him and I know that it was frustrating to me as well. But he is developed more now. His conversation is a little bit more now. He’s.

He’s just a good person. mean, I just really, he’s just a good kid. Well, he’s a good young man now. He’s 32. So he doesn’t want us to call him DJ anymore. He wants to call him Darryl. So that tells us that he’s saying, hey, I’m grown. I’m not that little boy anymore. ⁓ But he is a talker. He has a little stuttering problem, but he is a talker. He’s a talker like his dad.

Brandi Lewis (21:44)
Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (21:58)
I’m going to try to give you the Cliff Milk version. Okay. Of Darryl. know, like I say, he was two and a half or so, he started having seizures. Before that, he was always quick with it. He was always ahead of the curve and growth.

Brandi Lewis (22:01)
you

Darryl And Cynthia (22:17)
You took him to the doctor and she would say he should be doing this. He’ll start doing this and this. And it was like, well, he started doing that three months ago. And like, really? Well, he’ll be doing this soon. He’s already doing that. So he was far ahead in development. ⁓ he started having no seizures. we went from there. And when we went to the doctors and the specialists,

They said, well, you know, if you want to get the best for him, you you need to try moving So we moved to and that’s where we eventually ended up meeting your mother. it was a nurturing environment. And the kids were really,

nurturing with Darryl because when you got a special need kid and you got to drop him off at eight o’clock in the morning, you you worry until you pick him up at three o’clock. You know, is he being treated right? he, are the kids making fun of him? How’s he integrating and all those kind of things? So we really, during those times, didn’t have to be concerned about that. And that really, really helped us because it gave us encouragement.

Brandi Lewis (23:09)
Yeah.

Yeah.

and

Darryl And Cynthia (23:29)
and when we dropped him off, you know, the kids were going to kind of watch out for him. And that’s what happened. And the teachers at ⁓ the elementary school and the middle school would always say, you know, you need to look out for the kids that are less fortunate. And we were fortunate to be in a great school system. And that’s what they did. And so the kids that he started out with with elementary went to the middle school.

And from the middle school, they went to the high school. So he had a history with these kids. even when other kids came into the different schools, there was always a remnant of kids that knew him.

Brandi Lewis (24:02)
Mm-hmm.

Darryl And Cynthia (24:14)
And it was like, well, no, don’t talk to him that way. Don’t do that to him. So he always had a whole group of big brothers and sisters. And they loved on Darrell. They took care of Darrell. And it took a lot of pressure off us. And when he got to the high school, he was able to get into a program

And what they did was there was a young lady there that started a program that because her brother was special need and couldn’t go to college. She started a program for other kids to be able to have a college experience.

So Darryl was able to get into that program. He stayed in there for two years. And they were on the campus of University. So they were in their cocoon and they did they they were on a level. They were in the college environment.

Brandi Lewis (24:58)
12.

Darryl And Cynthia (25:07)
You know, they could go to the football game and the basketball game and they could walk on the campus and they could be in all of these different activities. campus experience. ⁓ And ⁓ Linda Cleveland is the young lady that started the program.

Brandi Lewis (25:12)
That’s so cool.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (25:26)
And from there, you know what mean? Yes, yes. So we were at a point, you talk about those dark spots, we were at a point where we financially, we couldn’t afford for him to go when they moved from, her program moved from the college to a standalone.

Brandi Lewis (25:26)
I know her. Yeah. I do. She’s so sweet. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Darryl And Cynthia (25:54)
And we

just couldn’t afford for her to go because my wife had to quit work again because she had, Darryl had gone through these, he’s having these multiple seizures so he couldn’t really function. So we really, we didn’t have the funds to do it with. And by the grace of God, Lindy found us. You know, she came looking for us and said, hey, you know.

Brandi Lewis (26:00)
Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (26:20)
I got this program going, said, yeah, we know, but that’s okay, just send them on.

Brandi Lewis (26:24)
No.

Darryl And Cynthia (26:25)
You know, in favor of God. Just send him on anyway, you know, so and she said you’ll catch up. Just send him on. know, Darrell is so people person and we need people that are people in this in this program. So Darrell went and and our finances caught up and we were able to to get into ⁓ where we needed to be. And so Darrell goes to

Brandi Lewis (26:27)
That is so awesome!

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (26:55)
Unless you now. He goes to Unless you now. Yeah, and some of those same kids that are in that program, Unless you, were with him in the elementary, middle, and high school. So it was just God, like I say, Lindy was a godsend because she started asking around like, okay, well, where is Darryl? What happened to Darryl? Where is he? Because he just, when you age out.

Brandi Lewis (26:56)
Mm-hmm.

That’s so cool.

Wow.

Darryl And Cynthia (27:20)
Right. know, I know some people may not know what aging out is, but that’s when you have a special need person that is in, when they become 21 in the state of Alabama, they basically age out where the state really says we’ve done all we can do. Right. So you count on your own and there are a few programs around, but there are not many and most of them are full. And so Darryl aged out, but when he aged out, he aged out into the program at…

Brandi Lewis (27:21)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (27:49)
the high school, I mean at the college. And then when he left there, you know, ⁓ when he aged out there, we just thought, okay, well that’s it. We’re gonna have to figure out something else. And Lindy came looking for us. It was just a blessing from the Lord. You know, we was able to. And it really helped us to get our life back because at that point in time,

Brandi Lewis (28:02)
Wow.

Okay.

Darryl And Cynthia (28:11)
I was working, but she wasn’t working because she had to take care of Darryl, but he got better. But I think it was a time when the economy was bad. So it was hard for her to find another job. And so we went through that. So she just took care of Darryl during that time period. And Linda came along and said, well, send him. And she was able to free her up to do some more job searching. And she was able to get a job. And we cleaned it up again.

Brandi Lewis (28:40)
You just keep cleaning it up. That’s so good.

Darryl And Cynthia (28:41)
All of

the kids at the high school, they really loved Darryl. They made him the High School King. So he was the king. So they really loved him. And the ones that weren’t in the special need class, they really gravitated to Darryl. they sure that his last year was really special.

Brandi Lewis (28:51)
Oh, I love that!

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (29:11)
big prom So there was Darryl, he was the king. he was, yeah, he was so excited. Didn’t want to come home. Like, there we got to go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, so yeah, we’ve had so many challenges and ⁓

Brandi Lewis (29:21)
But I bet he’s like, I’m living the life. This is awesome. I love that.

Darryl And Cynthia (29:33)
Years of challenges, years. ⁓ Hard times, really, really hard times. And ⁓ we stayed together because we love each other. We’re friends and we love our son. Right. And people wonder why y’all still laughing.

Brandi Lewis (29:35)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (29:49)
Why not? mean, things happen, you know, you have different directions in your life and this is our direction. So we just believe in God, trust in God and we just kind of push it through. Well, my wife is a laugher. She’s the one who keeps smiling, you know, some days I don’t know what you’re going to get with me, but my wife is going to keep smiling. She’s going to smile through it. And nobody knows our story until we tell them. And then like, really?

Brandi Lewis (29:50)
Yeah.

you

Darryl And Cynthia (30:14)
Yeah, most people say, well, you know, like she said, why y’all still together? Why we still smiling? Why you still smiling? They mostly said that to her,

Brandi Lewis (30:24)
after he started going to Unless You, that freed up your time, Cynthia. Tell me about how that helped you and your family have just be able to catch your breath just for a minute. Like, how did that feel?

Darryl And Cynthia (30:29)
huh.

you

It was like a vacation. mean, was truly a vacation. ⁓ It was like I had time to breathe.

Brandi Lewis (30:43)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Darryl And Cynthia (30:52)
Just to take time to breathe, just breathe, just relax. My shoulders were relaxed, my body, everything, my mind just had a chance to just relax and just breathe because mental health is very, very, very ⁓ prevalent. And so you have to…

You know, you have to check yourself and you have to take time for yourself. You know, I think I really wasn’t taking time for myself because I really didn’t have time to because my mom was constantly on him and by me being here with him, it’s like, is he okay? I have to go check on him, make sure he’s still breathing, make sure he don’t try to get up and go to the bathroom by himself. Just all those little things where most people take advantage of, but it’s just by the grace of God that

and kept my mind and kept my mind intact. So it was just a breath of fresh air. know, God knew I needed that break. So that’s the reason why he sent Lindy. I mean, Lindsey, so ⁓ yeah. So it just felt like a vacation to me when he left. mean, you know, most people say, well, you didn’t love your son. Yes, I did. Truly. I love my son, but all of us need a break. I mean, even people without special kids, you need a break from your kids.

Brandi Lewis (32:10)
Yeah, absolutely. You’re human. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. ⁓

Darryl And Cynthia (32:15)
So,

so yeah. Yeah, I remember asking her, I said, well, you know, you ready to go back? Yes. Yes.

Brandi Lewis (32:23)
She’s like, I am ready. I need a break. You do.

Darryl And Cynthia (32:27)
You know, yeah, so I mean

Brandi Lewis (32:28)
You do. You’re human. Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (32:30)
it was, and she needed that and I know she needed that and God knows she needed that. So it really, and we really didn’t have that, you know, like some people say they got a village. We didn’t have that village. We didn’t, we didn’t have the, ⁓

people that we needed to kind of help because we, like I said, we fed off of each other. So we didn’t have that. So- And that’s so, so very important. We didn’t have it. And I don’t, we thought that this too would pass.

Yeah, we never we were gonna be in it this long. But we did not have the support system. Now looking back, I think that’s one of the most important things. If you don’t have a special need, friendships and it’s so very important, so very important.

Brandi Lewis (33:14)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (33:43)
and to have the support system when you do have a special need person, the support system is so very important. You know, you know, know, ⁓ and this getting over into another area, I’m just going, ⁓ you know, you hear about people that have suicide and you think about people say, just call them every now and then you’d be surprised how many people were, nobody called them.

Brandi Lewis (33:44)
Somebody just to check in. ⁓

Darryl And Cynthia (34:13)
You know? And so a lot of times when you got a special need person, just a phone call. You don’t have to come in and see us. You don’t have to give us any money. Just let us know you’re thinking about us. And that you’re praying for us. Goes a long, long way. You know?

Brandi Lewis (34:36)
Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (34:39)
But I do want to emphasize that I know when my wife talked about this, doing this, I know that was one of the things, and I hadn’t said anything about it, but you got to have, it makes all the difference in the world, support system. It can make all the difference in the world. It can, it’s so very important. And a lot of times like with us, you know, and I know there’s other…

Brandi Lewis (34:58)
Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (35:08)
⁓ things that people deal with. But a lot of times when you’re dealing with especially kids, there’s stigmatism that goes along with it. People think, well.

I don’t really want to do that. I don’t want my kids to catch it. I don’t want my kids to see it. don’t want my kids, you know, they don’t, they don’t know, you know, they, they, they don’t know. And especially when it comes to our situation with seizures, you know, you have all these people telling you all these different things. You know, and, and, ⁓ some of the people, ⁓ would say things to us like,

Brandi Lewis (35:31)
Mm-mm.

Darryl And Cynthia (35:54)
is happening because of this, was happening because of that. You know, we just kind of look at each other like, what? No, it’s not what you need to You know, did you pray this prayer? Did you fast enough? Did you read this scripture? Yes, we did all of that. We did all of that. And people, just, I tell, I used to tell Cynthia that people,

Brandi Lewis (36:01)
And that’s not what you need to hear. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (36:24)
a lot of people just spiritually ignorant. don’t know and they speak out of turn and they don’t understand and they don’t try to understand because they’re so caught up in their spirituality that they fail to see the human side

Brandi Lewis (36:26)
Yeah.

They do.

I really understand what you mean when you’re like, I just need you to check in, just ask if I’m okay because I…

You know, you’ve already got doctors and you medical stuff going on. The last thing you need is a friend coming in saying, I think you’re diagnosed with the wrong thing. You know, like I totally understand what you guys are saying. It’s that you just want some support. You just want somebody to say, Hey, I thought about you today. A text, a phone call, anything like that. Like you said, you don’t have to come by just that support and knowing that you have people backing you. It goes.

Darryl And Cynthia (36:54)
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Something. Absolutely.

Brandi Lewis (37:16)
much further than people think. really does. Just having that support. Yeah. I think it’s so shocking to hear that you guys did it. Like it was just you two. Like you said, you didn’t really have that village, but it makes sense why both of you kind of like one tapped in, one tapped out. today, I can’t do it today. You know? And then it’s like, I got you. It makes sense how you guys did that and why you did that. You needed it.

Darryl And Cynthia (37:19)
It does, it really does.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes. Yeah.

Well, you know, our kids, were in a position, they were not in position really to help us. I think they helped us when they could. But they were not really in a, you know, they were in that point in time in their life where they were in college and they’re just on there.

Brandi Lewis (37:55)
Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (38:03)
their relationships, were just starting their jobs and they couldn’t come and sit two days. So ⁓ they have been good to us where they could be.

Brandi Lewis (38:09)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (38:16)
But it goes back, it takes a village. And I wouldn’t dare put any of this on my kids. They’ve got to live their life and you’ve to let them be free. can’t just lock them down, okay, you take care of your brother. You take care your brother, you take care of your brother. Okay, well, I always thought it would lead to resentment. Like, okay, I’m taking care of my brother, but I’m looking at this wonder and there’s a lot going on. I’m like, that’s why I need to be.

Brandi Lewis (38:24)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I’m neglecting stuff.

Mm-hmm.

Darryl And Cynthia (38:46)
Yes, yes, so you know, ⁓

but our kids have been good to us ⁓ and where they could be and like I say, it was just a time where it hit where they were doing adult stuff and trying to get their life together and we were dealing with the deeper part of ⁓ Darrell’s illness. So ⁓ they helped us where they could, you know. Absolutely.

Brandi Lewis (38:57)
Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. You want them to live their lives also. They have their own lives

going on,

Darryl And Cynthia (39:16)
You know, I’ve told this little story to my family to my kids and everything but also to In my mind, I was thinking once our kids grow up You know this before Darrell ⁓ Started having seizures or whatever but I was thinking once they grow up they’re out the house and everything I said that we both were going to just get a two-seater and just take off into the sunset but but that didn’t happen ⁓ But you know

Yeah, satellite phone. Yeah, we’re just gonna just call us. Don’t call us. We’ll call you. But it didn’t happen. guess, God said, no, you’re not going to do that. You say that’s what you want to do, but that’s not going to happen. So but that was my.

Brandi Lewis (39:48)
Right?

Yeah.

That was where you were

in your mind. Yeah. Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (40:04)
That was my little goal. That was my

dream, but that’s okay. And you have to make adjustments. Sometimes it’s not what you want to do. But I think there’s a lot of people that we’ve been a blessing to through this journey. And so, and I don’t know if that’s our rhyme and reason, you know.

Brandi Lewis (40:08)
That’s the funny.

Mm-hmm.

Darryl And Cynthia (40:29)
you because you’re questioning why me, why us, why this, and it doesn’t go against your faith. It’s human nature, you know? So, but I think that a lot of people, and a lot of times people are watching you, especially my wife, they’re always watching her because some of them know what she’s dealing with at home sometimes, and they’re watching her like, you’re gonna break.

Brandi Lewis (40:31)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

It is.

Darryl And Cynthia (40:57)
How you gonna do it? How you handling this? So ⁓ she’s able to keep smiling and people tell her from time to time, how do you do this? And it gives her a chance to.

Brandi Lewis (40:59)
Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (41:12)
to witness to those people and tell them about the goodness of God and how he’s carried her and how she’s standing in faith and how she’s got a best friend at home. And so I think we’ve helped a lot of people, you know, and I tell her all the time that we may not know until the end of time how many people we really impacted, but I believe we impacted a lot of people. I do. ⁓

Brandi Lewis (41:15)
Yeah.

Yeah. Sounds like your

story has a lot of faith. Like I said earlier, just really in the face of fear and really taking on like, okay, God, if this is what I’m given this, okay, I will take it one day at a time. Yeah. A lot of grace. Yeah. Absolutely.

Darryl And Cynthia (41:51)
Yeah. Just give me breaks. Right, right.

Yes, you’re great. You know,

that’s what I used to say. said, God, if this is what we got to deal with, you got to give me some grace. You got to open some doors for me. Lots of money. You got to some doors for me. You got to give me some favor. You know, you got to give me some suddenly. It’s out of nowhere. say I

Brandi Lewis (42:02)
Ha ha ha ha.

And some money, yes.

Darryl And Cynthia (42:21)
I can dig this mountain out, but I can only do it one shovel at a time. You’re gonna have to help me. You’re gonna have to me shovel this mountain out. I can do it, but you’re have to help me. So I need your help. And God has been good to us and he’s been faithful.

Brandi Lewis (42:26)
Yep. Yep.

Yeah, I need your help. Yeah.

That’s awesome.

So he’s 32 now. Where are you all now in your life with Darryl? What, where does a day to day look like today?

I felt like I was going to get a laugh from that question.

Darryl And Cynthia (42:49)
It’s

better, but it’s still about the same. I said earlier, our day starts with how Dara wakes up in the morning. So it’s like day to day, we don’t know.

how things are gonna go day by day. And so we just take it like that, just one day at a time. Yeah, yeah. And Darryl has, like I said before, has what they call idiopathic seizures. They can happen any time. But 98 % of the time he has a seizure is between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. It’s the waking hours when your brain starts to…

wake up ⁓ and that’s what the doctors told us. And so, you know, you’re almost on pins and needles at five o’clock. You know, ⁓ but what, ⁓ what we’ve done is that, you know, we’re mindful of that. We try to prepare for that. ⁓ And Darryl contributes a lot.

to this household because he’s the kind of person that if he, I’ll give you an example. ⁓ He’s a good kid, a young man. My wife, back was hurting the day before yesterday, I think, and she was on the floor with her feet up on couch, you know, trying to get some relief. And I don’t know, it’s like he’s in his room and…

I said, there he was. He just came out. He’s looking at his mom on the floor and like, you okay? And she said, yeah. So the next thing you know, he goes to get a bottle of water. He gets the water, then she comes back and he goes to get her a telephone. So he gives her the telephone. Then he goes and get her a pillow. You know, cause now that’s his way of saying, I’m concerned about you. ⁓

Brandi Lewis (44:54)
yeah

aww

Darryl And Cynthia (44:55)
I’m

concerned about you, are you okay? But that’s the kind of person Darryl is. But where we are now, like I say, goes to UNLESSU. We’re trying to put as much into him as we possibly can about day-to-day living.

Brandi Lewis (45:03)
Thank

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (45:17)
what

to do and how to use the microwave and all those kind of things and the dangers that go along with it. So we’re trying to push adult things to him because one day, as time goes on and the Lord doesn’t come back, we may be gone.

Brandi Lewis (45:31)
Mm-hmm.

Darryl And Cynthia (45:41)
So we’re always, you know, we’re in a point now where we’re a little older in life. We’re trying to prepare him for to take care of himself as much as he can. ⁓ And he…

Brandi Lewis (45:51)
Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (45:59)
We try to get him involved as much as we can outside the home and school and things like that. ⁓ We take him to the mall, we let him get involved in different sports where we can. We’re trying to get him involved in different groups as much as we can to grow him, because ⁓ he’s still got some room to grow.

Brandi Lewis (46:21)
Yeah.

you

Darryl And Cynthia (46:26)
and

he wants to grow and he like I say he’s a people person and he never gets down he never has a bad day he really he never has a bad day he really doesn’t you know I’ve seen this guy have multiple seizures and you okay yep and I’m looking at you and you just toe up

Brandi Lewis (46:36)
Wow.

you

Darryl And Cynthia (46:47)
He’s never said he felt bad. quote is, God is good all the time. He said God is good all the time. So no matter when you see him or whatever, you ask him how he’s doing, I’m doing good or I’m doing better. He’s never said, I don’t feel good. I’m sick. He’s never said that.

Brandi Lewis (46:50)
What?

wow.

Wow.

Darryl And Cynthia (47:11)
never said that. He always said, God loves us. And I said, yes, he does. And God loves me. Yes, he does. I say, God is good all the time. And I said, yes, is. he’s an encouragement to us. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that’s kind of how, where we are with him right now. We’re trying

Brandi Lewis (47:20)
Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (47:33)
ruined but still as much as possible. I mean, we’re just like most parents, we’re always teaching. Even my grown kids, they’ll call me about something and I’m always teaching. As a parent, you’re always teaching, you’re always telling, you’re always giving tips. Watch out for this, do this, did you do that? So it’s the same way with Darryl, we’re just constantly in a teaching mode. ⁓

Brandi Lewis (47:37)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (48:02)
So that’s kind of where we are with him. ⁓

Brandi Lewis (48:07)
Where would you say you are in your faith now?

Darryl And Cynthia (48:13)
What’s your go first? Well, I’m just going to be honest. We’ve been praying for a long time. And you know, when you pray for something for a long time and it seems like it’s, you know, your faith get a little wavery and, you know, and people always have, don’t doubt it. I’m not, but I’m just saying you just kind of question it. You just kind of question God and people that keep the faith, keep the faith, which I am keeping the faith, but sometimes, you know, you’d be kind of like, Lord, okay, when, you know,

Brandi Lewis (48:34)
Yes.

Darryl And Cynthia (48:43)
Why? How come it’s taking so long? You know, and then they bring up all the different quotes about, you know, issue of blood, you know, and all 35, you know, and it’s just, okay. All right. But I still believe in God. I still have faith in God. I believe that one day, even if not, I still believe in God. I still believe that he’s a healer.

Brandi Lewis (49:07)
Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (49:10)
I still believe that he by his stripes were healed. I still believe all of that. So he’s given us grace to, ⁓ to endure and to, ⁓ and to handle this because you know, the Bible says you won’t put more in you than you can bear. So in my mind, sometime I said, well, maybe you feel that we can bear it, you know? So, so we just, we just moving on, the direction that he, he’s taken us,

I don’t know why we’re going this way, but God has a plan for everything. And we have a purpose. Yeah.

Brandi Lewis (49:47)
think that’s such a real answer though. And I think people

need to hear that because in any area of all of our lives, I think we can all say, why God? Like I’ve been asking for this for years. I have asked you this question years. Why can’t I get an answer? You know, that frustration is real and normal. And I think being a Christian and having that question does not make you a less Christian. It makes you…

Darryl And Cynthia (50:00)
Yes. ⁓

Mm-hmm. And you’re rather normal, it is.

Absolutely.

Brandi Lewis (50:16)
There’s nothing wrong with having that question. There’s nothing wrong with

being frustrated with God at times in your life because God knows what we’re going through. God knows what that looks like for us and how we’re feeling. He knows us more than we know ourselves. He knows how we’re feeling in that moment, even if we’re not saying it. So thank you for that answer. I think it is a very real answer and something that needs to be said more often.

Darryl And Cynthia (50:23)
Yeah.

Yeah. ⁓

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Brandi Lewis (50:42)
doesn’t mean

that you were less in your faith, doesn’t mean you love God less,

Darryl And Cynthia (50:46)
Yeah. And you know, and God has a way of letting you know that he’s with you. And he gives you these these little pop up things and he lets you know that, hey, I’m still with you. I think that, you know,

Brandi Lewis (50:54)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (51:07)
with God and with our faith, think we’ve tried to weed those people out of our lives. Not really weed them out, we lower their volume. But then you have people that are just, you know, they’re just, and I said it just spiritually, just.

Brandi Lewis (51:19)
Yeah, that’s a good way to say it.

Darryl And Cynthia (51:27)
They’re just spiritually ignorant. don’t understand what they’re saying sometimes and the impact of their words and what they say. And sometimes those words are not encouraging. When you’re in the middle of the storm.

or you’re in the middle of the battle, I don’t need to know how bad it is. I already know how bad it is. Tell me how to get out of it. Tell me that you’re with me. ⁓ Tell me this too shall pass. Tell me all is well instead of questioning me about have you done this? Did you do this?

Brandi Lewis (51:47)
Yeah. ⁓

Yep.

Darryl And Cynthia (52:04)
Do you think it’s something you did in your earlier years? It just goes on and on. So those people, we’ve tried to lower the volume with them and try to surround ourselves with people that are more positive and ⁓ more uplifting. But that’s always a challenge.

But I think our faith is stronger now than it ever has been, even in the middle of the challenges. I think that our faith is stronger. I really do.

Brandi Lewis (52:39)
Yeah.

Brandi Lewis (52:41)
So if you’ll tell me just where are you guys relationship-wise now going through everything you’ve gone through?

You said you guys are friends, which I think is amazing. Tell me about that friendship and that relationship now.

Darryl And Cynthia (52:55)
we’re in a good place. ⁓

I’m always checking on her, make sure that we’re okay. As men sometimes, don’t do that because we’re busy paying bills and fixing the cars and doing all the things that men do. we don’t, that softer, what people call the softer side, we don’t turn around and say, you okay, honey? Is everything okay? Am I doing okay? I being a good husband? Am I being a good father? Am I getting you what you need?

And I ask her that periodically. But I think we’re in a good place. We don’t go out as much as we need to. We don’t go out nearly as much as we need to. But we spend a lot of time together, you know. We talk a lot. When I look at my telephone, you know, how you get your calls. You know, if I got 50 calls, 30 of them are her.

You know, so we talk, you know, we talk a lot. And so, but I think that at this point in time, in our relationship with Darryl and our relationship with each other, we have got to find a way to get more time together. Just us. And I got a plan.

Brandi Lewis (53:58)
Yeah. ⁓

Well, that’s good. I mean, I bet that’s hard

though. You got a special needs child, you you have life on top of that. You both have your own things. Yeah, that’s, yeah. So it was understandable.

Darryl And Cynthia (54:28)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I’ve got a plan. Yeah,

and what I’ve learned, ⁓ and I tell people, these younger guys all the time, you know, that’s when my wife grew me up, you know, she opened my eyes to a lot of things that, you know, me and we don’t think about. And ⁓ you hear people talk about it’s not

the quantity is the quality of time you spend together. And so I think that we’re at a point where we need to spend more time together. And I’m working on that. It’s sometimes difficult when you have a special need adult to kind of let go and think, you know, you

Brandi Lewis (54:59)
Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (55:19)
You need a babysitter, but who can I trust? know, who can I trust? In this day and age, that’s a real thing. And I think both of us, I’ve found resources for that. And my wife’s like, I don’t know about that. And she’s done the same thing. I was like, But we’re at a point now where we need that.

Brandi Lewis (55:24)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (55:47)
We at a point where ⁓ you’re gonna have to just pray and trust somebody. ⁓ But I think that in our relationship, we’re really in a good spot. We really are, you know. We still doing a lot of things that we used to do. We still bouncing off each other. We still get frustrated, but we come back. ⁓ And I can say this, all these years we’ve been together, we’ve never cussed each other out.

Brandi Lewis (55:48)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Wow, that’s good. You respect each other,

Darryl And Cynthia (56:17)
You know, you know, know people say, I, well, yeah, yes. We’ve

never cussed each other out. I’ve never talked down about her. She’s never talked down about me that I know of. But, you know, so we’re still in the ball game. We’re still in the ball game. Yeah, we’re still in the ball game.

Brandi Lewis (56:30)
Yeah.

Yeah, that’s awesome.

I mean, given what you guys have gone through, yeah, your marriage, your relationship is shaken from that. So I think it’s awesome for listeners to hear that you can get past that and you can do it together. Yeah. So that’s why I ask. I think it’s such a beautiful answer.

Darryl And Cynthia (56:53)
You’re gonna get past this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the other

thing is that you have to steal moments. have to, know, Darrell is asleep. It’s a Saturday morning. Get a cup of coffee and…

Brandi Lewis (57:02)
Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (57:09)
and go in and have a piece of toast, cheese toast, just a little simple thing, just a piece of cheese, serve them some coffee, and we sit and talk. Sometimes there’s still a moment where you’re out on the patio and it’s just you and her and you got a cup of coffee, a cup of tea, and you just talk. So you have to steal those things. He’s going to sleep. Okay, let’s cut the lights out and have a movie night. Let’s pop some pop.

Brandi Lewis (57:29)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (57:39)
got popcorn. if you come here you may not have a lot of food but you always have some popcorn. And those are times you have to steal, sometimes you have to steal those little moments. It may not be two hours but it can be an hour.

Brandi Lewis (57:47)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (58:02)
Let her know that you love her. Let your spouse know that you love her. Let her know you’ll marry her again. You have to do those things. You have to steal those moments. You do. do. Sometime when Darryl is doing really, really good, we’ll steal an hour or two and we’ll go to McDonald’s. people go, hey, right over there. Yeah, because it’s five minutes away from the house.

Brandi Lewis (58:10)
Yeah.

Yep.

Darryl And Cynthia (58:31)
We can

sit and have a cup of coffee and we can just talk and I can pour into her life and she can pour into my life. She can tell me her frustration. I can tell her mine and if I’m missing something is a good time for you. Tell me you you messed up on that or I wish you would do this. This will make me feel better and I’m open and listen to that.

Brandi Lewis (58:44)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (58:56)
And I think that’s very important. You have to steal that time. And at the end of the day, know, it’s still amazing to me out of all the frustration and everything. At the end of the day, I always look forward to seeing him. I mean, does that make sense? Yeah, I always look forward to seeing him, ⁓ you know. And so ⁓ he tells me about his day, I tell him about my day. So it’s just good to have that.

Brandi Lewis (59:00)
Mm-hmm.

Y’all.

Darryl And Cynthia (59:26)
person he’s just my person you know and so and shout mine right he’s just my person so I just really don’t think there’s no one else ⁓ for me you know and and just like you said earlier I you know I never thought about leaving because I don’t think my life would be the same without him

Brandi Lewis (59:29)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (59:47)
So, you know, so that’s where we are. We’re we’re still there. And you know, when you tell people that’s like, really? You’ve been married. Yes, I have. But, you know, I still feel that way. You know, he’s just my person. Right. You know, he is. mean, you know, because a lot of people say, well, what about the handsome guys? There’s a lot of handsome guys. He’s handsome, but he’s just my person. I mean, you know what I mean? Right. Right. He’s just my person.

Brandi Lewis (59:48)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yes, the person you’re supposed to be with.

you

What I also hear in that too is ⁓ don’t take those things for granted for someone that may not have a special needs child or may not be in any type of hard situation right now that’s in a relationship like y’all’s. Don’t take those times for granted. Like you said, go out and, and spend that time together. Like you guys are making it work. I know it’s little by little, but you can also hear that you’re making it work. And for people that can, yeah, don’t take that time for granted. Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (1:00:54)
Right, right.

That’s true. And guys, just the little things. It doesn’t have to be big all the time. Now, when you have an opportunity to do it big, do it big. And I said, know, every time it’s just a little bit, you know, but do it big. But other times, you know, that you can’t, then do the little bitty things. And I really think my wife thinks a lot when I come in and she’s, she’s asleep and I got a big cup of coffee and I’ve got some cheese toast. He loves that cheese toast that you can tell.

Brandi Lewis (1:00:56)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Do it. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (1:01:23)
And I think it means a lot to her, you know? Doesn’t it? It does. does, okay. Yeah. ⁓

Brandi Lewis (1:01:34)
It’s the little things. It’s the little things. Well, I do want

to end it with one more question. I like to end each episode with just a question for listeners to kind of ponder on and something to take from your message for them. So for anybody that may be going through a hard time, that may be struggling, it could be the same situation as you guys with a special needs child. It could be something else. And that just really needs to hear some hope.

a way to get through it. What advice would you give to them?

Darryl And Cynthia (1:02:10)
I would say keep the communication open. Always just remember that there’s always hope. Just always remember that you, with your faith, anything is possible. But the biggest thing is just love on each other.

He’s human, I’m human, we both have feelings. So ⁓ you may get frustrated, you may get whatever, but if that’s the point, just go somewhere and just talk it out to yourself. But always come back together and always just hug on each other and love on each other because life is just hard by itself. So ⁓ as long as you keep God in the midst, you can make it.

Brandi Lewis (1:03:05)
Yeah, that’s beautiful.

Darryl And Cynthia (1:03:05)
You can make it and just talk to

each other and love on each other and just hug each other. You can make it. You can make it work. You know, I would say ⁓ to anybody out there that’s dealing with anything or special need or whatever the challenge you have in your life is never give up, never surrender. Never give up, never surrender. You always got a chance. you wake up in the morning,

Brandi Lewis (1:03:12)
Yeah.

you

Darryl And Cynthia (1:03:34)
you got a chance, you got a shot. ⁓ And each day may be difficult, but if you never give up and you never surrender, the breakthrough is coming. It’s coming. But you can’t do anything if you broke down. You can’t do anything from the grave. You can’t do anything. But if you wake up.

Brandi Lewis (1:03:36)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (1:04:01)
and you get up and you say to yourself, I’m never gonna quit. I’m never gonna surrender. I’m gonna fight for my family. I’m gonna fight for my mental health. I’m gonna fight for whatever challenges before me, no matter how big the mountain is, I’m gonna fight. And that can be male, that can be female, whatever you’re dealing with. If you wake up, you got a chance, you got a shot.

Brandi Lewis (1:04:12)
Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (1:04:29)
You don’t know what will happen. You don’t know what will change. You don’t know who was speaking to your life. You don’t know ⁓ what blessing may come your way. But if you’re at home, bothered up in the night.

Brandi Lewis (1:04:42)
Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (1:04:49)
You don’t have many opportunities. So never give up, never surrender. That’s what I say. I get up there, I say my prayer, I’m like, here we go. Never give up, never surrender. You know?

Brandi Lewis (1:05:03)
Yeah.

Yeah, that’s true. I,

⁓ when I was in the thick of it, with my health issues, used every morning I woke up, I would say, thank you for another day. Thank you for another day. Cause we’re really not promised that. And when you really go through health issues, you are thankful for each and every day you get to fight. So that is really good advice. I love that. It does.

Darryl And Cynthia (1:05:17)
Thank you

in every moment. yes, yes. And I think it makes you stronger when you do it. It makes

you stronger. ⁓ Because you’d be amazed that God would send people in your life to dealing with some of the same kind of struggle that you’re dealing with.

Brandi Lewis (1:05:36)
It does.

Yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (1:05:48)
you can give them some information and you can help them. So ⁓ I think it’s very important.

Brandi Lewis (1:05:53)
Yeah.

Yeah. It sounds like you guys have helped a lot of people too, ⁓ through your story. Yeah. Yeah. Well, awesome. Thank y’all so much. ⁓ yeah.

Darryl And Cynthia (1:05:58)
We tried. One thing my wife wanted to,

she had on her vision board and she didn’t say anything about it. ⁓ She wanted to do a podcast. She wanted to do a podcast. I wrote podcasts about this very thing because I feel people need to hear this.

Brandi Lewis (1:06:23)
Wow. They do. They do.

There’s something about people hearing resilience stories and that helps other people no matter where they are in their life.

Yeah. Thank you all.

Darryl And Cynthia (1:06:35)
Well thank you so much for taking time out and having us through our technical

difficulties earlier. ⁓ we appreciate you taking time and thinking about us and giving us the opportunity to speak into other people’s lives and tell our story.

Brandi Lewis (1:06:41)
No worries, no worries. Thank y’all for doing this too.

Yeah.

Absolutely.