Rory Feek Shares Wife Joey's Final Words to Him Before Her Death

Six months ago, while the world lost a great vocalist Joey Feek to cancer, Rory Feek lost his wife and mother of their daughter Indiana.  Rory has been chronicling Joey's illness, death, and beyond on his own personal blog. He has often expressed his undying love for his wife. 

"We repeated 'I love you' three times to each other," Rory, 51, tells PEOPLE of his 40-year-old wife's final words to him. "It's the last line of a song I wrote years ago called 'Josephine,' an imaginary love story between a husband and wife." 

"For most all of our marriage - in the birthday, Valentine's Day, or anniversary cards we gave each other and before we went to bed - we have always said the same thing," he says in this week's issue. 

Just prior to Joey's death, the couple released their final album Hymns that Are Important to Us.  The album debuted at #1 on both the Christian and country music charts.  Moreover, Rory is giving his wife the ultimate tribute: To Joey, With Love, a documentary appearing in select cities Sept. 20 and Oct. 6. 

 

 

"Just like she did for Joey, Indy makes me laugh a lot," Rory tells PEOPLE of their little girl, who was born with Down syndrome months before Joey'scervical cancer diagnosis in 2014. "She's the child we were meant to have." 

However, the couple struggled with accepting reality when Joey's cancer took a turn for the worse in October. 

[Joey] just couldn't bear the idea that she was going to leave me a single parent again because I'd already been through it. She told me right on the porch out there," Rory says, his eyes filling with tears. "She said, 'It's not fair. You're not supposed to have to do this again.' I said, 'But on the other hand, I'm perfect. I already know how.'" 

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Rory Feek Shares Wife Joey's Final Words to Him Before Her Death: 'I Love You'

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