Nearly one year after Joey Feek died of cancer, her husband, Rory Feek, has reflected on life without his wife and shared how the first Grammy win for Joey + Rory was a "dream come true."
Before Joey passed away in March 2016, the two of them recorded a gospel album, "Hymns That Are Important to Us". The album won best roots gospel album at the Grammy Awards - the Christian duo's first win.
"It had been Joey's dream to record an album full of the hymns that she grew up singing in church as a little girl and for her to see it get finished and be released was a dream come true for her," Rory wrote in a February 15 blog post titled One for the Books. "And to be at the Grammy's this year, hearing our names called and going up on stage with Joey's daddy to accept the award on behalf of my sweet bride was much more than a dream-come-true for me."
Rory, who last week released his first book, "This Life I Live", shared how he tried to "be as honest and transparent as I could be" in sharing his story.
"Probably more than I needed to be at times," he confessed. "But it's also been good for me. To remember how I got here. How Joey and I got here. So I can better understand where God is leading us in the future."
The singer/songwriter revealed that his three-year-old daughter, Indiana, has been a tremendous source of comfort following the death of his wife.
"As always, Indy helps me make sense of this life that God has given us. With just a smile and her little voice saying 'Papa', the pain of not seeing my wife's smile this Valentines day gets a little easier," he said.
He added, "I can't believe Indiana's turning three years old already! And did I mention that she's walking?"
In a February 14 interview with the Today Show, Rory said he still speaks of his wife in the present tense "because she's so present in my life."
"I didn't know how I would feel (after she died), but I feel her everywhere I go," he explained. "I feel the choices that she made, I feel the strength that she had and the love that she has for me and our family."
The singer said he hopes that anyone who reads his and Joey's story as told in his new book will leave with the understanding that faith transforms.
"Sometimes faith can change everything," he insisted. "Just faith in something greater than what you lived before. It doesn't matter where you came from. I'm an unlikely person to be part of an amazing love story. I hope that's an encouragement to others."
