Joey Feek’s loving influence on her husband Rory and daughter Indiana’s life still holds strong. In a new blog post, Rory shares the hopes that his wife had for Indy’s education — and how, even though she’s gone, her dreams are coming true.
“I have written before about our desire to live our lives with ‘high hopes and low expectations,’” Feek writes. His wife had every intention of homeschooling Indy, but obviously, that plan changed. Fortunately, when the Feeks began “researching what and where the next-best option for school for Indy might be” in January, “God [led] us to a place called, of all things … High Hopes.”
High Hopes is a development center, inclusive preschool and pediatric therapy clinic located in Franklin, Tenn., approximately 25 minutes north of the Feeks’ farm. Half of the center is a preschool, while the other half being a state-of-the-art therapy center for children with special needs.
“When I showed this video about their program to Joey, she wiped the tears from her eyes and with a beautiful smile said, ‘That’s the one honey … that’s the one,’” Feek recalls.
“Joey was so excited about Indy getting the chance to come to High Hopes, and I was so thankful that she felt great about it. Somehow she managed to transform her disappointment of not getting to raise and teach Indy into a real hope of something even better. I don’t know how, but she did. And she never cried another tear over it.”
Indy has been attending the preschool for a week and a half, and she loves every minute of it, her dad says. In his post, Feek shares photos of Indy playing with her friends, riding on toys and even enjoying a nap at school. She is currently in physical therapy classes, and she’s learning to walk and doing speech therapy.
“I can hardly imagine how special it will be when the time finally comes that she can walk beside me and talk with me,” Feek says.
“I believe that God gives us just what we need, when we need it. Sometimes it’s not what we had planned or what we thought we wanted, but if we keep an open mind … it just might even be better than what we originally hoped for.”
“Indy and I are trying to adjust to our new life at home. To the empty chair at our table and pillow on the other side of my bed. Desperately missing Joey and carrying her in our hearts with us everywhere we go,” Feek reflects. “Knowing, believing … that she’s looking down each morning as I take Indy into High Hopes, still smiling saying, ‘That’s the one honey … that’s the one.’”
Joey Feek was laid to rest at a private funeral service on March 8. Family friends also had a public memorial service on March 13.