This morning dawns a little differently than yesterday. It’s the first day in a world without Dolly Parton, and as crazy as those words are staring back at me from the page, I can’t help but think it’s actually, really, a thing.
I came in from mowing yesterday, and that’s when I heard the news. I picked up my phone and reached out to my friend Beth. “Oh man, I’ve dreaded this day.” I knew I wouldn’t have to explain. “I’m just heartbroken,” she immediately responded.
We never even used the word Dolly, or death. No explanation was needed. She was that big, and the loss was that big. The world felt a little colder. A little more dim. A little meaner.
Tennesseans have a special relationship with Dolly, always have. She’s one of us, especially here in East Tennessee. We loved her big, that’s true, but as big as we loved her, she loved us back even bigger. She gave like nobody’s business. From Imagination Library to My People Fund to her donations in support of Hurricane Helene survivors, her kindness and charity were legendary.
Her talent was otherworldly. As a songwriter, as a singer. She could lift any genre of music higher than it had ever been, but it was always country music to which she returned. Her bluegrass recordings are some of the best in the world.
But it was her essential Tennessee-ness that we loved the most. She was as real as the words she wrote, and sang. She was the big and brassy big sister that some of us had, and all of us wished we had. She was the favorite colorful aunt who went out into the world and, instead of being mocked, made the world wish they were from Tennessee too.
That’s why the world feels a little colder, a little grayer. Losing that volume of love and kindness and joy cannot help but leave a void.
There will never be another Dolly; despite her tiny feet, those were awfully big shoes to fill. But maybe, together, we can.
Give a little more of your heart today. Smile a little wider. Laugh a little louder. Be kinder to a stranger. Be joyful. Love in the biggest way. Shine as bright as you can.
She’d like that.
Beautifully written! I couldn’t agree and thank you for the inspiration. I am a proud Black man who who is not shy to say that I too, loved Dolly Parton because she was fearless and brave enough to share her many coat of colors of love and joy to everyone; regardless of their race or station in life!
My family was very poor when I was a kid and I remember jamming this coat hanger onto the back of this black and white tv set to get reception to find any channel to that would come in clearly!!
The television finally zoomed in on this lady with curly blonde hair coming down a swing, with the sweetest sounding voice, singing “Love is Like a Butterfly!”
I was immediately enchanted. The next day, my coat hanger cleared onto the exact same channel, and this time, the beautiful young lady was singing “I Believe.”
From then on, I was hooked; Dolly Parton had made a 7yr old Black kid from the Bronx feel a little happier about life with her music and her smile 🙂
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