Rory Feek Wishes Wife Joey Was Still Here As He Celebrates First Father’s Day Since Her Death

Rory Feek seems to have enjoyed Father’s Day with his daughters and family, but posted on Facebook that he was missing his late wife, Joey Feek. The country singer, 51, celebrated the holiday with his and Joey’s young daughter, Indiana, and his two older daughters Heidi and Hopie, as well as other family members. It was Rory’s first Father’s Day since Joey’s death.

On Sunday, Rory posted a few photos on his Facebook page showing him bonding with his family. In one photo, he’s seen holding Indiana as Heidi and Hopie stand next to him. In a second image, he’s surrounded by a large group of people. “…three fathers and their families. Had a wonderful time having dinner at Homestead Manor this eve, but so wish Joey could be [with] us,” he wrote.

Joey, who made up the country duo Joey+Rory with her husband, died in April after battling cervical cancer for almost two years. She was 40 years old at the time of her death. On Thursday, Rory announced in a blog post on his website This Life I Live that he was going to release a movie that will document his and Joey’s last two years together. The film, titled “To Joey, With Love,” will begin a few weeks before Indiana was born in February 2014 and follow the family up until this past spring when Joey died. The movie will hit theaters across the country Sept. 20.

“Joey didn’t live to see her 41st birthday, but this September, just a week or so after her birthday on the 9th… my wife will get the chance to live again,” he wrote on the blog. “On a movie screen, her heart will start beating and her story will come to life once more and it will be my gift to her. And to our girls. And to our friends and family and all who loved her.”

Rory explained that he hopes by releasing the movie other people will be able to find some encouragement to help them deal with whatever they are going through. “I just want to lift my bride up… and continue to tell her beautiful story, while Indy and I live out the new one that God is now writing,” he wrote. “I am spending the rest of this summer working on the film at home … and watching this story unfold. Again.”

Last month, the “When I’m Gone” singer talked about celebrating Mother’s Day in a blog post titled “Happy mothers day dad.” In the lengthy post the country singer talked about being a single father again. “ 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.”