Jay DeMarcus just shared a touching photo of his parents, shortly before his father, Stanley “Wayno” DeMarcus passed away in October. The picture shows both his mother and father, while his father was hospitalized.

“This picture is extraordinary to me,” the Rascal Flatts member wrote. “This was one of the last times my Dad was in the hospital. That is my Mom, true to form, praying for him. Why is it extraordinary? …Well, my parents got divorced TWICE. Yep. They tried to make it work for the sake of our family, two times…”

This picture is extraordinary to me. This was one of the last times my Dad was in the hospital. That is my Mom, true to form, praying for him. Why is it extraordinary? …Well, my parents got divorced TWICE. Yep. They tried to make it work for the sake of our family, two times… pic.twitter.com/PNOmexQKzn

— Jay DeMarcus (@JayDeMarcus) January 18, 2021

DeMarcus previously credited both his father and mother with giving him the talent, and the drive, to succeed musically, since both his parents wanted to pursue music as a career, but were unable to do so. His mother actually turned down a recording contract so she could raise her family instead.

“Maybe there was a piece –– subconsciously in me –– that kind of wanted to be able to at least have some success for both of them] so that maybe they could live a little bit of their dream through their son,” DeMarcus told All Access. “My dad wanted it really, really badly too, and I think that was one of the reasons why he probably wasn’t as supportive to my mom when she was able to pursue it first.

“Both of them [were] very, very accomplished, very gifted musicians, and [my mom] will tell you now that she has no regrets, because she wouldn’t have had my sister and I,” he continued. “But I don’t know. There may be a piece of her in there that wonders, ‘What if?’ all the time. I’m glad that I’ve at least been able to let her live through our success a little bit.”

DeMarcus learned plenty from his father, who still played in local venues for most of his adult life.

“My dad was always musical,” DeMarcus previously noted. “So, the bond that we’ve always shared that has kept us close is music and we play music together. I try to go back, not so much in the last couple of years because his health has been deteriorating. But I would go back and play some little clubs with him with his band that he had back in the late ’70s.

“It was a way for me to stay connected to my father and share that bond with him,” he added. “There is a lot about my father that I will always cherish and love.”