2 Years After Joey Feek’s Death, Husband Rory Says He’s Still in Love with Her
When it comes to celebrities, I too often fall into the trap of thinking that their lives are charmed, that they don’t suffer the pains and setbacks that we ordinary folk deal with on a day-to-day basis. But I don’t think it’s possible to believe that after looking at the pain country musician Rory Feek has suffered — and still continues to suffer.
As a single father of two daughters and struggling songwriter in late-nineties Nashville, Feek’s life seemed anything except easy. Things seemed to turn around for him, though, with a hit single in 1998 (“Someone You Used to Know”) and a blossoming romance with Joey Martin (who he married in 2002).
Yet there was more pain to come. The couple’s first daughter, Indiana, was diagnosed with Down syndrome, and then Joey received a cancer diagnosis.
In 2014, Joey discovered she had cervical cancer, and after a long fight, she passed away.
“My wife’s greatest dream came true today,” Feek wrote. “She is in Heaven. The cancer is gone, the pain has ceased, and all her tears are dry.”
Now two years after her death, Feek opened up to CBS Sunday Morning.
“I feel just as married and just as in love, and I feel like she’s just as much of a part of our life as she was,” he said.
And though much has changed for the 53-year-old musician, some things have stayed the same, such as the challenge of raising children.
Feek has found some solace in incorporating his youngest daughter into his performances. “At some point (during a set), I’ll say, ‘I have a special guest in the audience.’”
“And she’ll just come marching right up there. Then she’ll get all nervous on stage, but it’s just the cutest thing.”
He also commented on how it felt to perform again. He said it seemed “surreal and strange, a little wrong in some ways. But on the side of it, it felt strangely familiar.”
In a 2016 interview with PEOPLE, Feek said, “I’d like to think that Joey is proud of how I’m doing, how we’re all doing, especially Indiana. She took so much pride in the work of being a mama to Indy, and I find myself thinking of her every day, all day long in the time that Indy and I spend together and the things we do, wondering how she would handle this, or do that.”
We’re sure she is proud, Rory. Truly man is born for trouble as sparks fly upward, and we hope that you find solace in the good gifts of work and family.
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