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Gresham was married to William Gresham, also an acclaimed author, although the marriage was unhappy due to his alcoholism and infidelities. Joy divorced Gresham in 1953 when he professed his love for another woman but invited his wife to join him and his lover in a ''ménage a’ trois''. Taking her sons, she returned to London, intending to make England her new home. In 1956 her visa was due to expire, and the Home Office had refused to renew it. She had maintained her friendship with Lewis, and it seems that a gentle love was beginning to bloom. She asked him to marry her and extend his citizenship to her and her children. He agreed and on April 23, 1956 they were married in a secret civil ceremony.

Gresham was married to William Gresham, also an acclaimed author, although the marriage was unhappy due to his alcoholism and infidelities. Joy divorced Gresham in 1953 when he professed his love for another woman but invited his wife to join him and his lover in a ''ménage a’ trois''. Taking her sons, she returned to London, intending to make England her new home. In 1956 her visa was due to expire, and the Home Office had refused to renew it. She had maintained her friendship with Lewis, and it seems that a gentle love was beginning to bloom. She asked him to marry her and extend his citizenship to her and her children. He agreed and on April 23, 1956 they were married in a secret civil ceremony.

The couple did not immediately take up residence together - this happened somewhat gradually as more and more, Joy and her children stayed Lewis and Warren at ''The Kilns''. Lewis' feelings for Joy seem to have taken him over in 1957 when it was discovered that Joy had aggressive bone cancer, and was given only weeks to live. While she lay in the hospital, dying, Lewis persuaded one of his clergymen friends to perform a Christian marriage service for this divorced woman and her legal husband. Joy’s cancer unexpectedly went into remission and she was able to return home to The Kilns. Initially confined to a wheelchair, she progressed to crutches and later a cane. In 1958, the couple, by now wildly in love with each other, were finally able to take a honeymoon, in Ireland. Lewis, Joy and her sons, David and Douglas, were given two years of respite from Joy’s cancer, but in 1959, the cancer returned. Despite treatments and drugs, her cancer spread and it became apparent that Joy would die. This she wanted to do at home, with her children, Lewis and her brother-in-law Warren near her.  

The couple did not immediately take up residence together - this happened somewhat gradually as more and more, Joy and her children stayed Lewis and Warren at ''The Kilns''. Lewis' feelings for Joy seem to have taken him over in 1957 when it was discovered that Joy had aggressive bone cancer, and was given only weeks to live. While she lay in the hospital, dying, Lewis persuaded one of his clergymen friends to perform a Christian marriage service for this divorced woman and her legal husband. Joy’s cancer unexpectedly went into remission and she was able to return home to ''The Kilns''. Initially confined to a wheelchair, she progressed to crutches and later a cane. In 1958, the couple, by now wildly in love with each other, were finally able to take a honeymoon, in Ireland. Lewis, Joy and her sons, David and Douglas, were given two years of respite from Joy’s cancer, but in 1959, the cancer returned. Despite treatments and drugs, her cancer spread and it became apparent that Joy would die. This she wanted to do at home, with her children, Lewis and her brother-in-law Warren near her.  

They took a final holiday together in [[Greece]] in April 1960. When they returned home her cancer progressed rapidly. Lewis was at her side constantly and begged her not to leave him. He wrestled with letting her go, wishing to keep her with him even in the face of the horrible pain she suffered. Finally he surrendered to the inevitable and told Joy to leave. She died at the Radcliffe Infirmary on July 13th, 1960. By her own request her body was cremated and a poem by Lewis, ''Epitaph'', was cut into a marble plaque which is near where her ashes were scattered at Oxford Crematorium. Lewis was devastated by grief. While he was able to carry on the duties of life after losing Joy, it’s clear that he was a changed man. He poured out his grief on paper, turning his own loss into comfort for thousands. His book, ''A Grief Observed'' published first under a pseudonym in 1961, delves deeply into his personal loss, but the profound insight into the nature of grief that Lewis pours out in the volume transcends his own loss and speaks to the heart of any who have lost a spouse or partner. Lewis's relationship with was the subject of the play and movie ''[[Shadowlands]]''.

They took a final holiday together in [[Greece]] in April 1960. When they returned home her cancer progressed rapidly. Lewis was at her side constantly and begged her not to leave him. He wrestled with letting her go, wishing to keep her with him even in the face of the horrible pain she suffered. Finally he surrendered to the inevitable and told Joy to leave. She died at the Radcliffe Infirmary on July 13th, 1960. By her own request her body was cremated and a poem by Lewis, ''Epitaph'', was cut into a marble plaque which is near where her ashes were scattered at Oxford Crematorium. Lewis was devastated by grief. While he was able to carry on the duties of life after losing Joy, it’s clear that he was a changed man. He poured out his grief on paper, turning his own loss into comfort for thousands. His book, ''A Grief Observed'' published first under a pseudonym in 1961, delves deeply into his personal loss, but the profound insight into the nature of grief that Lewis pours out in the volume transcends his own loss and speaks to the heart of any who have lost a spouse or partner. Lewis's relationship with Joy was the subject of the play and movie ''[[Shadowlands]]''.

[[Image:Lewis_tombstone.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Lewis' tombstone]]

[[Image:Lewis_tombstone.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Lewis' tombstone]]

In June 1961, Lewis was diagnosed as having an enlarged prostate gland. He was initially fitted with a catheter, but this caused his kidneys to become infected, which in turn led to a heart problem which made it impossible to operate on him. In November 1963 he was diagnosed with end stage renal failure. Lewis showed a calm approach to death: "''I have done all I wanted to and I'm ready to go,''" he told his brother. Lewis died at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, November 22, 1963, at ''The Kilns'', one week before his 65th birthday. His death was largely ignored by the media, due to the assassination of [[John F. Kennedy]] on the same day. He is buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church, Headington, Oxford, where his funeral took place on Tuesday 26th November, 1963. On his tombstone his brother had engraved the words from ''King Lear'' which had been on the calendar on the day their mother had died: ''Men must endure their going hence''. Warren was buried beside his brother in 1973.

In June 1961, Lewis was diagnosed as having an enlarged prostate gland. He was initially fitted with a catheter, but this caused his kidneys to become infected, which in turn led to a heart problem which made it impossible to operate on him. In November 1963 he was diagnosed with end stage renal failure. Lewis showed a calm approach to death: "''I have done all I wanted to and I'm ready to go,''" he told his brother. Lewis died at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, November 22, 1963, at ''The Kilns'', one week before his 65th birthday. His death was largely ignored by the media, due to the assassination of [[John F. Kennedy]] on the same day. He is buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church, Headington, Oxford, where his funeral took place on Tuesday 26th November, 1963. On his tombstone his brother had engraved the words from ''King Lear'' which had been on the calendar on the day their mother had died: ''Men must endure their going hence''. Warren was buried beside his brother in 1973.