Beloved country music star Randy Travis is once again at the…

The singer, 60, who suffered a massive stroke in July 2013, still has difficulty speaking but that hasn’t stopped the couple from rebuilding a life together on their ranch in Tioga, Texas. The two communicate via “our seventh sense, if you would,” Mary, 60, tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s issue. “Our communication is between hearts now, and not lips.”

While the prognosis is different for every stroke survivor, Randy is continually making progress — and just at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. “The whole third midsection of Randy’s left brain was affected, which is speaking, writing and reading,” Mary explains. “But each day there’s something new that he says or does.”