Love, loss, perseverance, dedication and commitment — these are the best words to describe the story of the Marris family. It is a tale of love that lives on, even after death and the heartache that it brings. It is a husband’s dedication, a best friend’s final gift and the joy found in new life.
Stacy Marris, a Chickasaw citizen, met Chrissy Birks in middle school, but initially lost contact when Marris transferred high schools. However, Birks was a cheerleader and Marris played football, baseball and track, so they would often reconnect at games. They were always cordial and happy to see each other. Chrissy was a year older than Stacy, so they lost contact for a little bit after she graduated. But fate would not keep them apart for long.
Stacy was playing baseball at Murray State College (MSC) in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. One day, as he was walking to his car, he heard a familiar voice. It was Chrissy calling his name. She was also attending MSC in the nursing program. They reconnected and started spending time together. A few years later, in 2013, they officially started dating.
“The rest is history,” Stacy said. “We became Stacy and Chrissy instead of just Stacy or just Chrissy. We were always together and did everything together.”
They moved in together a year later, in 2014, and were happy with their two dogs and a cat.
“We were just living life — working, paying bills, traveling, seeing everything together,” Stacy reminisced.
When they officially got engaged in 2017, he didn’t even need to ask her to marry him. They were on their way to a Texas Rangers baseball game and stopped by a Kay Jewelers in Denton, Texas. They were looking at rings and Chrissy found one she loved.
“The question I asked was, ‘Do you want the ring?’” Stacy said. “And she said, ‘Do you know what that ring means?’ and I said, ‘Yes. It means we’re getting married.’ We got the ring and got married in Jamaica March 1, 2018.”
Stacy and Chrissy were happily married, enjoying their life together, but they wanted to share it with a child. They were trying to have a baby, but things were not going according to plan. They went to the doctor to see if they could get some answers. However, the answers they got were not the answers they wanted. Chrissy had cervical cancer.
Despite the cancer, they were still determined to move forward with their plans to have a child.
“They said she could go through fertility treatments and harvest the eggs before she started chemo,” Stacy said.
They were able to harvest nine of Chrissy’s eggs before she started her chemotherapy at the University of Oklahoma (OU) Cancer Center.
Treatment was hard, but they were determined to make Chrissy well. They spent much of 2020 in and out of OU Cancer Center. They were there every week. Thankfully, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, they allowed Stacy to stay with Chrissy. In the spring, they got the news they had been anticipating. Chrissy was going to be OK.
“She got the clear in May 2020. We spent that summer living life. We were planning on building a house and having a baby,” Stacy said. “And then we got the news in the fall that it had come back, and they said it wasn’t good. It’s highly unlikely to survive once cervical cancer comes back. We went from living life and preparing for life to preparing for the worst.”
Chrissy died Feb. 27, 2021, a little less than a year after they had received their all-clear.
Before Chrissy died, the couple still had time to talk and plan for the future; it wasn’t a future she would get to experience, but it was a future she wanted for her husband. Chrissy had Stacy make her promises before she died. She wanted him to finish school and get his degree. She wanted him to finish building their home. And she wanted him to use her eggs to have their child.
Stacy was determined to keep his promises to Chrissy. He finished his degree and graduated college December 2021. He started teaching 10th grade world history at Marietta (Oklahoma) High School in addition to coaching football, baseball and basketball.
He finished building their house in 2023.
After being in the house for a year, he thought it was time to keep his final promise to his wife.
While there were a few different people who volunteered to carry Stacy and Chrissy’s child, there was no doubt who the surrogate would be.
Rachel Testerman had been Chrissy’s best friend since elementary school. She had told Chrissy before she died she would carry the baby, no questions asked. It was one final present for her best friend.
Peyton Marris was due April 17, 2025, but April 1, Stacy got a text at work. At Testerman’s doctor’s appointment, they told her they wanted to induce labor. Since it was April Fool’s Day, Stacy wondered if she was joking, but she was not.
“When I got off work, I told my boss that I thought the baby was going to be coming soon so I didn’t know when I would be back,” Stacy said. “I packed a bag and went straight to Ada, and they already had me a room ready.”
Stacy sat patiently waiting the morning of April 2, which also happened to be his birthday. At 9:26 a.m., Peyton joined the world and was the best present her father could ask for.
In the months since, Peyton has become a local celebrity in Marietta. She goes to the football games with her dad and all the students, staff and faculty are excited to see her. When they go out to eat, everyone likes to make funny faces at her and get her to smile and laugh.
Even though everyone says she looks just like her dad, Stacy is starting to see Chrissy in her as well.
“There are times when she makes a little face and I’m like, ‘That’s your momma right there,’” Stacy said. “Or like last night we were lying together in bed, and she started dozing off and kicking really hard when she was sleeping and I was like, ‘Yep. That’s your momma.’”