The year must have been somewhere in the early to mid 1970s. Our farm had been on a good trajectory, giving my parents the chance to buy more land, and we grew our dairy herd slowly over those same years.
Life was good, and my parents were happy. One morning at the breakfast table, Dad told us he was getting a bigger Allis-Chalmers tractor with a cab.
“This one even has an 8-track cassette player in it!” he said with a smile. “So, I figure that finally Dolly Parton can come along and help me plant corn!”
Mom rolled her eyes and said with a chuckle, “Are you sure you want to risk wrecking your reputation?”
Dad looked puzzled and said, “I’m not sure I follow…” “Well, you know you can’t see straight when Dolly sings … for the first time in your life, every row you plant won’t be straight, and those curvy lines will be mighty visible for all the world to see from just about every field you plant!”
They both got a good laugh over that thought, and Dad decided Loretta Lynn might have to be the first to sing to him in the new tractor.
There is no doubt that Dolly was so beloved most of all because she didn’t take herself too seriously. She conveyed pure joy in the way she walked, talked, sang and lived. She was proud of where she came from and didn’t mind poking fun at herself or letting others do the same.
“You’d be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap!” was one of her oft-repeated quips.
The world is mourning her loss, this larger-than-life icon gone from us at age 80. I was busy cleaning, the TV on a news channel, when breaking news announcing the death of Dolly Parton stopped me in my tracks. The commentator appeared to be as shocked as I was to hear the news.
What a life! Dolly lived with a generous heart, often helping the most economically depressed areas of her beloved Smoky Mountains, but reaching far beyond that as her success grew.
She is credited with having written more than 3,000 songs, many recorded by others. With royalties from those songs, along with ongoing incredible personal success, she gave away millions. This amazingly talented woman, who first took the public stage at age 13 in 1959, the year I was born, could never have predicted just how far she could go.
Her charitable Imagination Library continues to give away books to children all over the world every month, reaching more than 300 million in total, and she often said she is most proud of this over all her accomplishments.
Having a father who could not read or write, Dolly often said, “You can teach yourself to do anything if you can read.” She supported literacy in many charitable ways, quietly.
Heaven surely gained an angel this past week. Our world is a little less joyful, and there is no doubt a little less sparkle on the path we each walk. If we all could live a little bit more like Dolly, with spunky, self-assured, joking nature and a graciously giving heart, we can make this world a better place.
