Rory Feek Is ‘So Very Thankful’ for Fans, Media Sharing Joey’s Story

As Joey + Rory singer Joey Feek, comes to the end of her life, her husband Rory is thanking fans and media all over the world for sharing her journey through cancer every step of the way.

Joey first underwent surgery to treat cervical cancer in June of 2014, and fought it off successfully. It returned in a more aggressive form a year later, and the couple received the devastating news that the cancer was Stage 4. After more punishing treatment, doctors told Joey there was nothing more they could do, and she opted to cease treatments and return to her hometown of Alexandria, Ind., to spend the last days of her life surrounded by her loved ones.

Since then it's been a roller coaster of emotions as she has first declined, then rallied again and again. Rory has been sharing the couple's experiences with fans via social media and moving posts to his blog, This Life I Live, in the hope that Joey's story will help others, and in a new post on Monday (Feb. 29), he broke the news that Joey likely only has days to live and expressed his thanks for everyone's care and concern.

"It is difficult for me to write this, partly because it seems like everything I write these days ends up as some tragic news story about my wife and her ‘last days’ and the ‘shocking’ new development that has just been shared," he states. "I want to apologize for any sensational headlines that this or any post has created. That has not been my intention. These are just stories… small vignettes from our lives, just like the ones that you and everyone out there are living every day."

"That being said, I am thankful.  So very thankful – that our story has been shared and shared and shared," he adds. "Thankful that because it’s being picked up and shared by dozens of news organizations and hundreds of thousands of individuals on Facebook and elsewhere, somehow my wife’s life and ultimately her death, might possibly help or encourage someone else somewhere. That this life she’s living might impact the life of someone that she and I will never meet, and never see, at least this side of heaven. That is a good thing. No, that is a great thing. Thank you."

Rory says Joey — who fulfilled her goal of living to see both the Grammys and daughter Indiana's second birthday — gathered together her loved ones and bid each of them goodbye, and that she has now lapsed into a deep sleep from which she is not expected to wake. One of the last things she said before she went to sleep was that she had no regrets about her life.

"And thank you to all who have followed my wife’s beautiful journey. Who are still following," he writes. "Though our hearts are heavy we all need to do our best to remember that this is not the end. It’s only the beginning. When Joey takes her last breath here… she will take her first breath there."

... "In Heaven."

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