Still shining. Seven months after Joey Feek passed away from stage IV cervical cancer, her devoted husband Rory Feek shared the story behind her engagement ring in a new blog post published Thursday, October 13.
“In the spring of 2002, Joey and I were sitting on the bed next to each other one evening, talking about the future, and I asked her what kind of engagement ring she wanted someday,” the country singer, 51, recalled. “She thought about it, then said, ‘Something old, I think. Maybe something antique that has some personality and history to it…’”
At the time, Rory had a ring that fit his love’s exact description. However, the diamond was originally intended for a former girlfriend–“I was trying to make something terrible work,” he explained of that prior romance–and it remained concealed in his sock drawer until this particular conversation.
“Joey kept talking about how she liked silver and platinum and diamonds that have unique cuts to them. So I got up from the bed and walked across the room to the dresser,” he shared. “I pulled out a little leather box and nervously carried it over and sat beside her on the bed. ‘You mean, like this one?’ I opened the box, and inside was exactly what she had described. An antique engagement ring from the 1920s made of platinum, with little blue sapphires on the sides and an oval-shaped diamond sparkling on the top. Joey’s eyes lit up.”
Rory told Joey about the ring’s complex history–but her reaction was surprising. “Joey slowly slid it on her finger… and it fit. Perfectly,” he recalled. “‘Don’t get rid of it,’ she said. ‘I’ll wear it if you ever decide that you want to ask me.’”
(Photo by Mark Sullivan/WireImage)
And she did. The dad of three wrote that he loved his particular story about his late wife because it displayed her essence.
“So forgiving. So secure in who she was and what mattered and what didn’t,” he opined. “Because it makes me cry, thinking about how God took that ring and the commitment we made to each other two months later and turned it into something more beautiful than neither Joey or I could’ve ever imagined at the time. And I also love that story because it reminds me how lucky I was.”
The Joey + Rory artist then shared with fans that this tale is one of many included in his upcoming book, This Life I Live, named after his blog that documented his wife’s two-year battle with cancer. Joey passed away on March 4, 2016, leaving behind two stepdaughters, Heidi and Hopie, and a 2-year-old daughter named Indiana.
“Joey would be so proud of this book. I know she would,” he wrote Thursday. “She’s always encouraged me to share our story and to one day, tell mine, and how she became part of it.”
Rory concluded the piece by revealing where Joey’s engagement ring now dazzles. “It’s on our middle daughter’s hand. Hopie wears it so proudly everywhere she goes,” he shared. “When she comes over in the mornings from her apartment above the big barn and I see it on her finger… it makes me smile and remember that day in ’02 when I first showed the ring to Joey. And also remember that day last winter in a makeshift bedroom in Indiana… Joey slid it off her own finger and smiled as she slid it onto her daughter’s. Knowing that when one chapter ends – another begins. And that Hopie’s was now the right left hand.”
