Rory Feek, readjusting as single dad, sends daughter to school in swimsuit

NASHVILLE, May 10 (UPI) -- Country music star Rory Feek says he is still adjusting to being a single dad again after the death of his wife, Joey, in March.

Joey Feek is survived by a 2-year-old daughter and two adult stepdaughters -- Heidi and Hopie -- after she died of cancer.

"Indiana got a new outfit in the mail yesterday," Rory wrote in a Facebook post Monday.

"I thought it was beautiful, so I had her wear it to school this morning. When Hopie picked her up this afternoon, the teacher told her that I sent Indy to school in a swimsuit today. Hmmm... I was wondering why the material was so stretchy..."

The message accompanied a photo of his smiling baby girl wearing a pink, ruffled outfit with a fish on the front. The ensemble was topped off with pink, high-top sneakers.

Rory talked more seriously about parenthood in a touching Mother's Day essay he posted on his "This Life I Live" blog Sunday.

"For years after Joey and I got married, I dreamed that God might bless her and me with a baby. A baby that we could love and cherish and raise together. A child that was part her, part me, and all Him. And part of that dream was that I might be given a second chance at being a father," he said.

"And last fall, when Joey and I found out that the treatments weren't working and that more than likely, she wasn't going to live to see another spring... Joey sat beside me on a glider on our back deck and cried and cried. But not because of the news that the cancer had spread and there was nothing more the doctors could do. She cried because Indy was going to lose her mama, and I was going to be a single father again.

"Joey knew how hard it had been for us for all those years before she came along and she was upset that she was going to leave me in the same situation. I remember her tears falling and her saying, 'I don't want you to have to raise a child again by yourself... it's not fair'. Though I was worried about the reality of what was probably in our future, I tried to smile as I wiped Joey's tears and said, "it's okay honey... now we know why God chose me to be with you.' I realized then that God knew what was in store and all those years by myself with the girls was Him preparing me for the job of caring for Indiana."