We are in northwest Arkansas this weekend because of Joey. To honor the life she lived, and even more so the choices she made and the way she lived at the end of her life.
Friday was the grand opening of the new Joey Feek Center For Home-Based Care in Lowell, AR, a new $12.5M building and project that the wonderful hospice organization Circle Of Life and our friends from the Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundationhave been working for the past two years to bring to fruition.
I’ve been here to the Bentonville area a number of times in the last half-dozen years, supporting, speaking and singing at Circle Of Life’s annual fundraiser event at Crystal Bridges. In the Fall of 2023, Indy came with me to be part of the announcing the new home-based center that they were going to be breaking ground on in her mama’s name.
Earlier that year, our dear friends Johnny Mike Walker and Mandy had flown to our town and sat on our porch and shared their idea with us of building something in Joey’s name. I was of course, incredibly moved and surprised by their generous offer – it’s not something I could’ve ever imagined happening. But I knew it was a beautiful way for Joey’s legacy and beautiful story to live on.
We talked about the possiblity of a cancer treatment center and other ideas, but ultimately settled on in-home hospice care, mostly because that’s where Joey’s heart would’ve been. Besides her faith and love for family, I think that if she had lived, encouraging people to consider home-birth and in-home hospice care would’ve been two of the things that she would be very passionate about.
Hers (and ours) was a very special end-of-life experience – one that we wouldn’t wish on anyone, and yet would choose if we had to do it over again. A long goodbye that none of us will ever forget. Our family has often said that those few months when Joey was on hospice and we were all together were the worst, and absolute best, of all of our lives – at the same time.
Something about life being pared down to just the essentials has a way of bringing everything into perspective. Not just Joey’s, but all of our selfish ambitions and the busyness of our daily lives disappeared for a short time and was replaced with what truly mattered… love. family. faith.
Being together.
A year or so ago Indy and I flew here for the event where they announced the building project, and this this past October she and I flew back here again to see the progress that had been made so far.
This time we came with Rebecca and Joey’s mama June and her three sisters Jody, Julie and Jessie also flew in from Indiana for the grand opening.
I remember in early November 2015 when we first made the choice to bring hospice in to help us make the transition we were still hoping we wouldn’t have to make. We had prayed for a miracle and God had answered our prayer. Not in the way we’d hoped for, but a clear answer just the same.
Joey had been fighting cancer for a year and a half. But after all the surgeries, the chemo and radiation, it had continued to spread. Although the medical center’s continued to recommend more treatment, more chemicals and more procedures, they also made it clear that the they were only trying to prolong the enevitable.
And with time and life begin the most precious thing she had, we decided that enough was enough, and made the choice not to spend any more of time in hospitals searching for a cure. Instead we wanted to spend every moment we had together, truly living. Even if – especially if – she was dying.
When the moment came to call in hospice to help us with our journey, we found ourselves sitting with some sweet ladies from the local Indiana hospice organization on the couch at Joey’s mama’s house as they shared with us what the next few weeks or months might look like for her and for all of us.
At the same time., Joey’s oldest sister Jody also took five months off work as an RN to care daily for Joey. She lived with us and stayed by Joey’s side night and day. And she worked with the hospice nurse who came weekly to walk alongside us on the journey.
From then until Joey passed away on March 4th, we all cared for her at home, together. And we laughed and cried and played games and told stories. And we prayed and sang and gave ourselves to her and she gave herself to us, completely.
And when the day finally came to see goodbye, she was ready. And even more so, we were ready. As ready as broken-hearted people who never want to lose a loved one could be.
And then we did what we all have to do. Take her memory, and her love, and continue walking forward in faith. And over time, we were able to find joy again and peace, and for me, even love.
And now all these years later, here we are. Gathered again, not around Joey, but around her name and her memory, and the opportunity God has created for her end-of-life story to be an encouragement to other people’s end-of-life stories.
And the building holds more just her name. I donated Joey’s Takamine guitar and a few other personal things for the lobby. It was special for her mother and sisters, and especially for Indiana, to see her mama being lifted up in such a beautiful way.
And the folks at Gaither Music donated hundreds of our Hymns cd’s to give away to each new patient that the center helps. The hope is that besides her story, perhaps her music – our music and songs – will help others during their difficult times, the way it helped us.
Life has a way of coming full circle. I’ve often said,’the end is always the beginning‘. And as difficult a chapter as losing Joey was, it didn’t take long to see that at the same time, a new chapter for all of us was also beginning. A new story that God was going to write with our lives.
In the end, it won’t be our accomplishments, the dreams we chased, or the money we’ve made that will carry on. It is our love that lives on. And it’s love that has brought us here to this moment. To this place and this special day.
I can hardly wait to see and hear about all the lives and families who will be impacted by this new building, and the people who work here or will come to be part of it in the future. It truly is an honor to be a small part of a much bigger bigger story that’s unfolding..
If you’d like to learn more about Circle of Life and what they do, or ever find yourself considering or needing in-home hospice care for your loved one. Please reach out to them. If they can’t help you, I’ll bet they can help connect you to someone in your area who can.
Circle of Lifeoffers end-of-life care services that focus on enhancing the quality of life for patients and their families, providing hospice and palliative care and many other services for people who need guidance and helping loved ones through the transition from life to death.
* The new center will serve more than 90% of the patients Circle of Life cares for daily, ensuring they receive the compassion and support they deserve.
about RORY
Although well-known for his music, videos and books, Rory Feek is most beloved for the story he tells with this life and the hope he brings to millions of readers through the personal blog This Life I LIve that he’s been writing on his website for the last ten years.
