A Legacy for Delilah in Honor of Rebecca Lynn

NOTE: Please read the entire Story of Rebecca Lynn and Delilah, as well as all of our updates, as things took a drastic turn for the worst shortly after our campaign began on January 22, 2020.

Hello, my name is Farrell Lynn, and I am brother to Rebecca Lynn, and uncle to her beloved daughter, Delilah.

I live in Portland, OR, but I am currently in Tehachapi, CA, helping my family tend to my little sister who is steadily losing her battle with Stage 4 breast cancer. Becca, as most of us call her, was placed into hospice on January 13, 2020. She has fought an arduous battle and she has continued to defeat the odds, since she was first diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer in March 2016. She has continued to make us proud, proving herself to be a fighter; but, as anyone can tell you, Becca has always been stubborn and sassy, so it comes as no surprise to those of us that love and cherish her that she has fulfilled her wish of lasting past the holidays, to spend them one final time with her daughter, Delilah.

I admit, as her older brother, I find it very difficult to find the right words necessary to explain how I feel, or how this has affected any of us--no words seem good enough for Rebecca: a 29 year old, single mother, beloved daughter to our mother, Lorraine, and youngest sibling to myself and our eldest sister, Natalie, and our extended family: our step-father, Rick, and our step-siblings Rachel, Kristen and Brent. We all love her and Delilah so very much, and it tears us apart watching Becca slowing wither away in front of our eyes. All we want to do is protect her, to rid her of the pain, but, beyond comforting her now, cancer is something that is beyond our control--something that none of us could predict, nor defeat; however, we can honor her and do everything within our power to ensure that we continue to care for her daughter, Delilah, as Becca would have wanted of us.

Long before Becca was placed into hospice, she let her final wishes be known to us in her final will and testament, that Lorraine and Rick Bumbaca, would become Delilah's legal guardians, followed by one of her siblings, Natalie or myself. Delilah is only six years old now, and she will have a long road ahead of her, as she slowly becomes an adult over the years, and tries to deal with the tragic loss of her mentor, best-friend and loving mother. Rebecca and Delilah are a dynamic duo--inseparable really--and we know that she is going to need all the love and support she can get from her remaining family members.

WHAT YOUR DONATIONS MEANS TO US:

Having been diagnosed with cancer, Rebecca made the conscious decision to become a stay at home mom, to spend more time with her daughter; however, having cancer, she was unable to acquire life insurance for herself. Depending upon how well our campaign goes for them, contributions will go towards potential legal fees to ensure the legal guardianship of Delilah to our mother and step-father, per Becca's wishes. We would love to build a memorial for Rebecca too, perhaps a park bench, close to home, so her daughter, as a young woman, could sit and reflect on her loving mother over the years. Without an inheritance, we would also love to set-up a trust for Delilah, if possible--something that ensures she has a better future, full of opportunity, as a child, a young woman and as an adult. We also want to seek the best professional help, in terms of therapy, should the best be out of network. There are so many things that we want to do for our precious niece, upon the inevitable hereafter of losing her mother, Rebecca, or her "baby love", as my niece is fond of calling her mother.

No amount is too small. It pains me to have to ask for help--I am not a person keen on doing it, but this is not about me--it is about my sweet, baby sister and my beloved niece. It isn't about us--it is about them.

And we would be forever grateful.

GET TO KNOW HER:

Rebecca is far from a materialistic human being: she enjoys the simpler things in life, like hiking and camping with her daughter, or simply sitting on the front patio with Delilah, our mom, Lorraine, her cats, or a loyal and trusted friend, while sipping a warm cup of tea, or a latte from her local Starbucks. She is an avid reader that enjoys perusing well-written books about anthropology, and is fond of studying our own family genealogy. She loves antiques, Ghost Towns, and collects trinkets and taxidermy. She is a humanitarian and a vocal advocate for human rights, that cares immensely for both animals and her fellow human beings, with one of her favorite animals being a sloth. Like her collection of bones, she often buys rare rocks from oddity shops or scours for a few beauties amid the dirt on her various outdoor activities. She loves music and often accompanied our eldest sister, Natalie, to live shows and concerts, to see bands like Lucero and Social Distortion, and would attend car shows with our mom, like Hot August Nights in Nevada. Her favorite color is Emerald Green, she loves yellow roses and always desired to visit Ireland.

Rebecca is a passionate and rare soul that cares about people more than herself. She collects old photographs, from the late 1800's to the early 1900's, because she feels they need a loving home. Even with cancer, she desired to respectfully place flowers on old graves, forgotten and neglected in historic graveyards.  Per one of our conversations, last October, shortly after one of her many hospital trips in which we thought we were going to lose her, we bonded over our shared stances on social issues, and injustices in the world, and she told me that if she only made a positive difference in a single person's life that she felt her life was worth it; that if she could sacrifice her life to rid the world of pain that she would do it too. 

In Rebecca's own words:  "I'm a human being, you're a human being. So far we have at least one thing in common. I am Polish and Irish. I'm somewhat shy, but a stubborn pain in the a**, and I'll most likely scare the s**t out of you when my shyness wears off. I'm weird and have a dorky and dark sense of humor. I'm extremely interested in anthropology, cultural anthropology to be exact. I’m an animal person, an avid reader, and I tend to be a happy individual. I’m goofy and sarcastic and little things make me smile. I like wine and whiskey, camping and hiking."

She is selfless and brutally honest. She is Becca.

Here are a few of her favorite quotes to share with you:

"We are
Born like this
Into this
Into these carefully mad wars
Into the sight of broken factory windows of emptiness
Into bars where people no longer speak to each other
Into fist fights that end as shootings and knifings
Born into this
Into hospitals which are so expensive that it’s cheaper to die
Into lawyers who charge so much it’s cheaper to plead guilty
Into a country where the jails are full and the madhouses closed
Into a place where the masses elevate fools into rich heroes."
- Charles Bukowski

"They say true love only comes around once and you have to hold out and be strong until then. I have been waiting. I have been searching. I am a man under the moon, walking the streets of earth until dawn. There’s got to be someone for me. It’s not too much to ask. Just someone to be with. Someone to love. Someone to give everything to. Someone."
- Henry Rollins

"You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters? She's not perfect - you aren't either, and the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break - her heart. So don't hurt her, don't change her, don't analyze and don't expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she's not there."
- Bob Marley 

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!"
- Hunter S. Thompson