Lyrical Logic

I’m writing this the day after she died. I wanted to write it last night, but it was so overwhelming that I just couldn’t. I was sitting out on my deck at 11:00 PM ugly crying while listening to her albums. I cried this morning when I got up and realized she didn’t wake with us. And I’ll cry for her loss probably for a while here and there. Losing Dolly was something I knew would happen one day, but I didn’t want to believe it actually would and I was not prepared.

I love Dolly not only as a country music fan, but as a human. If anyone knew what it meant to truly give back to her community, it was Dolly. As the kids are saying these days, we made the right person famous. From her work to bring life, education, jobs, and economic growth to Pigeon Forge, to her Imagination Library, to her donations to medical advancements, to her support and inclusion of all people Dolly Rebecca Parton was truly an angel here on earth.

The Honky Tonk Angels are back together again. I can only imagine the party heaven had last night when she arrived. Kenny, Porter, Loretta, Tammy, Patsy, and Dolly all having a sing-a-long around a campfire. They can’t have Reba yet though. Oh no. She stays for quite a while longer.

I will never forget where I was or what I was doing when I heard the news. I was at work, shocking I know, and I actually had opened up Facebook to do some research for work (I Facebook stalk people as part of my job, lock your shit down people!) and it was approximately 3 minutes after her team posted the video announcing her passing. My heart broke instantly. I just knew. My Aunt Dolly had been called home.

If anyone truly lived out her faith, it was Dolly. I know she was greeted in heaven not only by her friends and family, but by Jesus who welcomed her with open arms and said, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

I don’t have much more I can think of to say. My heart is simply shattered. I don’t understand how we are supposed to continue on in the world, especially in the state that it is today, without her. She was a light in the darkness. She was an inspiration to so many. She was, and always will be, my Aunt Dolly.

Please consider donating in Dolly’s memory to her Imagination Library. So children can continue to receive books once a month from birth to age five. A legacy Dolly leaves behind because her father was so poor growing up that he never learned to read or write. Rest in Power Dolly.

I will always love you.