Country singer Joey Feek has held on to life for a long time in hospice care, despite the fact that she’s currently battling stage 4 cervical cancer.
Some may attribute it to her unwavering faith in God, some might say it’s her love of her children; others may suggest her husband Rory‘s stalwart support is key. In any event, Joey Feek is a survivor, and she’s not going out without a fight.
The Feeks’ latest act of defiance in the face of cancer is their garden initiative. The country and bluegrass music duo (a.k.a. Joey + Rory) is growing plants in their garden — which is known as Joey’s Garden — so that after Joey dies, she’ll still be “feeding her family.”
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Rory maintains a blog, This Life I Live, to keep fans and well-wishers up to date on Joey’s illness. In his latest post, Rory, 49, talks about how the garden is giving Joey, 40, new life.
“I just want her to be able to be in the garden — this year and twenty more after it. And I will keep the garden going. Joey’s garden,” Rory wrote last Thursday. “So thin and gaunt, and more frail than ever, my wife is sowing her seeds — putting down roots in the soil of our lives and hearts. Getting us ready for something that we can’t see right now for the tears in our eyes… something she might not even get to see at all.”
Joey has been receiving hospice care in the couple’s hometown of Alexandria, Ind. after it was discovered that her cancer had spread to her colon.
She’s keeping herself upbeat with the help of her daughter Indiana, who was born shortly before Joey’s cancer diagnosis in 2014. Indiana was born with Down syndrome, and is a constant source of happiness for her ailing mother. Rory posted several photos of little Indiana to the couple’s Instagram page, trying to cheer her mother up with funny faces.
Rory says the children are always “close to her heart,”and Joey wears a necklace to remind her of that. Stepdaughters Hopie and Heidi are Rory’s children from a previous marriage, but Joey has been a permanent fixture in their lives.
In a November 2015 interview with The Tennessean, Joey insists she’s not mad at any higher power about her affliction.
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“I pray that one morning I just don’t wake up,” she said. “But I don’t fear anything because I’m so close to God and we’ve talked about it so many times. I know he’s close. And I know he loves me. I’m really at peace. I still believe there’s healing in prayer.”