Country music star Joey Feek has terminal cancer and her one wish was to celebrate her daughter's birthday

Joey Feek is an American country singer. She’s a 40-year-old mother of a baby girl, who has Down syndrome. She’s married to her musical collaborator Rory Feek.

And she’s fighting a very public battle with terminal cancer.

She has been cared for in her hometown of Alexandria, Indiana, since stopping treatment for stage four cervical cancer, and her family and friends fear their time with her is coming to an end.

Her husband has been chronicling his wife’s illness in a blog called This Life I Live, and country music fans in the US have been faithfully following their story.

But this week was a good week, and for that Joey and her husband are eternally grateful.

In a post on the blog yesterday titled ‘Week to Remember’, Rory wrote about the couple’s simple but romantic Valentine’s Day, their nomination at the Grammy Awards, his upcoming album and his daughter celebrating her second birthday.

Photos of their little girl delighting in a chocolate cake, juxtaposed with touching images of the pair sharing a bed for the first time in months adorn the post, and are enough to bring a tear to the eye.

And even better than Rory’s words were the photos he shared of Joey watching as her daughter blew out her candles, a smiling Indiana celebrating her second birthday and, most touching, an image of Rory and Joey laying in bed together for the first time since November.

In the post, he wrote:

“When dinner was over, as I said goodnight and tucked the blankets around her in the little hospital bed she has been living in for months, she thanked me for the special night and then made one last request.  “If Jody helps me to scoot over to one side…could you try to lay down with me and put your arms around me?”

I haven’t been able to be in the same bed with my wife or hold her in my arms since the beginning of November – when she made her last trip to the hospital.

But for one sweet half-an-hour… that changed on Valentines day.”

Being there for her little girl’s second birthday has been Joey’s goal since her terminal diagnosis. This week, that dream was realised.

Joey barely slept the night before Indiana’s birthday.  She was too excited.  Jody said she didn’t fall asleep until about 5 am, around the time that Indy and I woke up.   When Joey woke up, a little before noon, I came in to see her… and tears were flowing down her face.  Again, I put my arms around her and asked, “why are you crying honey?”…

“We made it…”, she softly answered.  “We made it”.

And once again, my tears mixed with hers.