Rory Feek Blogs About First Mother’s Day Since Wife Joey’s Death, Reflects On Being A Single Father

Country singer Rory Feek penned a new blog post about celebrating the first Mother’s Day since his wife Joey Feek’s death. In the lengthy post, titled “Happy mothers day dad,” Rory wrote about becoming a single father again and still honoring his late wife on that “special day.”

Rory, 51, started his post by talking about how he raised his eldest daughters Heidi and Hopie by himself. “I can’t tell you I was a great father. I tried,” he wrote. “I think I was a good father, but the truth is I was still a young man struggling to find myself, while the girls were growing and finding out who they were. I made so many mistakes and was so selfish. At times I was more concerned about being a great songwriter than being a great father.”

Rory praised his daughters, now in their late 20s, for being so forgiving and loving him unconditionally. “Thankfully, they are more mature and secure than I was in my twenties,” he wrote. “I have often wished I could go back to when they were young girls and give them more love and more time and more attention. I guess it’s natural to always want a ‘do-over.’ But everyone knows those never happen.”

The “When I’m Gone” singer went on to say that when he met Joey he dreamed about having a child with her so he could get a “second chance” at being a father. Their daughter, Indiana, was born in February 2014. “When Indiana came along, it was a dream come true in more ways than most people know. But then life happened,” he said, referring to Joey getting diagnosed with cancer shortly after their daughter was born.

“And last fall, when Joey and I found out that the treatments weren’t working … Joey sat beside me on a glider on our back deck and cried and cried. But not because of the news that the cancer had spread and there was nothing more the doctors could do,” Rory wrote. “She cried because Indy was going to lose her mama, and I was going to be a single father again.”

He went on to write that even though Joey is no longer with them physically, they still celebrated her on Mother’s Day. “This is not my day. It is hers,” he wrote. “Joey loved being a mother more than anything else in the world. And she is still Indy’s mama. And Heidi’s and Hopie’s.”

In an interview last week, Joey opened up about his wife’s death, telling Billboard that he’s gotten a “lot of peace” by listening to her music. Rory and Joey were in a country duo called Joey+Rory. “Every morning about 5:30 a.m., Indiana and I get up, and quite often I play her ‘Hymns’ record,” he told the outlet. “Sometimes we’ll listen and it’ll make us smile. Indiana will do sign language to ‘Jesus Love Me,’ just like she would her mother. And then there are other times … I’m making eggs, and emotional, and Indy doesn’t quite understand it.”

In a previous post on his blog, This Life I Live, Rory told fans that he was also coping with the loss by spending time with his friends. In the April 14 post, the father of three said that meeting his friends for coffee — something he did before Joey died — has become that much more important to him because it gives him a chance to laugh and share stories with his buddies.