Rory Feek Tells a Touching Story of Joey's Best Friend

The Bible says that a best friend sticks closer than a brother.  These words are best illustrated in the friendship Joey Feek shares with her best friend Julie Zamboldi.  Joey Feek has been diagnosed with Stage IV cervical cancer and she's currently no longer receiving treatment. According to her husband Rory's blog This Life I Live, Joey doesn't seem to have very long to live.  But one not to leave her side is her best friend Julie.

Julie Zamboldi first met the couple at a music festival eight years ago, and over time she has become their biggest fan. Eventually Julie became the president of the Feeks' fan club, making sure that fans receive their newsletter and that their news were being posted online. Julie has been to almost every Farmhouse Concert that the Feeks played and she is the one who mails out their Christmas cards. 

Over the years they've become very close, especially Julie and Joey." Like an angel from heaven, it was as if God sent Julie to us. To her," Rory writes. "But none of us knew why, until the cancer showed up again this summer."

Throughout Joey's illness, Julie has been there. "In October, when we made the important trip to bring Joey up here to Indiana to get to see her family for a few days (that has turned into almost 3 months), Julie was on the bus.  And a month later as Joey's conditioned worsened, she was still right by Joey's side."

When Joey started loosing her hair due to her chemo, Julie cut her hair too.  "When Joey's sisters and Daddy cut their hair off to support her... it was Julie who handed me the clippers and sat in the chair and asked me to "make her hair fall off" first."

Rory says he was hesitant to call anyone Joey's "best friend" for fear of hurting anyone else, he says their manager helped him realize she has earned the title by giving up a huge chunk of her own life to be there for Joey, even traveling to her hometown.  "When I was writing one of the first difficult blog posts about Joey's chemo and radiation not working... I wrote about Joey's best friend Julie.  I labored over the 'best' part of that line for a long time.  As I've mentioned, I'm fiercely protective of my wife, and Joey has many close friends who love her and would do anything for her, not to mention her three sisters.  So to choose one person and write 'best friend' for her was difficult for me - I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings when they would possibly read the post and I also didn't want to choose Joey's best friend for her.  But I remember walking down the road with our manager Aaron and telling him my concerns and him just listening for a long time.  Then, he stopped and looked at me and said, "Rory, Julie's traveled 2,500 miles...put her life on hold...  and sat by Joey's side for weeks and weeks at a time - if that isn't what a best friend does, I don't know what is".

He was right.   So so right.

And now, here we are.  Months later and as Joey's condition has continued to improve, then worsen, again and again... Julie has made three trips home to Washington and is back here with us again.  She's been here all week, helping Joey's sister Jody take care of my wife and me and everyone else.  She cooks, she cleans, changes the baby's diaper, and does any and everything else that she can find to do that needs to be done while we're living here out of suitcases."

 

 

 

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