Country singer Rory Feek marries his daughter’s teacher 8 years after the death of his wife Joey

Rory Feek embarks on a new journey.

Eight years after the death of his wife and musical partner Joey Feek from cervical cancer, Rory Feek announced that he has married Rebecca, who is not only the teacher of his 10-year-old daughter Indiana, but also a close family friend.

The couple married on July 14 in a “timbered gazebo here in Greycliff, Montana,” Rory wrote in a blog post about the memorable event. He also noted that while he and Rebecca have been together for a while, their union was thanks to his daughter.

“We knew marriage was a possibility,” Rory said, “but neither of us felt we could talk about it seriously. Especially since Indiana had only known Rebecca as ‘Miss Rebecca,’ her teacher and our friend.”

Luckily for the couple, Indiana came up with the idea in “late March” when she and Rebecca were spending time together at Rory’s farm.

“They came back into the kitchen,” recalled the musician, who was married to Joey for 14 years before she died at age 40, “and Rebecca said, ‘Rory, Indiana just asked me something that I think you should hear.'”

“I asked Indy and she told me, ‘Mrs. Rebecca, I think you should marry Dad,'” he continued. “Of course I was happy, but I was surprised and told her we all need to start praying about it.”

Indy’s perspective on the situation, however, was more complex as she shared her thoughts with Rory and Rebecca: “My mom has been dead for a long time. And if she marries you, maybe she could be my new mom.”