“I always count my blessings more than I count my money. I don’t work for money, never did.”
—Dolly Parton

We’ve lost a legend, a country music icon, a national treasure. My words today, but words frequently used by many others to describe Dolly Parton after her recent death.

Had aliens in a spaceship landed in Nashville and walked in on one of her performances at the Grand Ole Opry, what would they have thought? A caricature of what a female country singer would look like? Maybe. But not us. She was Dolly.

We accepted her because we’d grown up with her always looking that way. The many wigs, the fake eyelashes, the glitter, and that figure . . . well, I won’t speculate on how she got it or maintained it! Parts of Dolly were necessarily performative. She knew what her fans expected of her. She started as country, but successfully crossed over to pop, and then expanded to movies, television, and books.

To borrow from Senator Edward Kennedy’s eulogy of his brother Robert, we shouldn’t idolize or enlarge in death beyond what Dolly Parton was in life. A prolific songwriter? Yes. A classic country singer? Of course. Financially successful? Definitely. Despite the opening quote, she was a shrewd businesswoman.

Whether you thought Dolly was cute, counterfeit, or campy on the outside, she had qualities of the heart we should all sit up and take notice of; emulate, even. To wit:

• You likely know the story. She was born to a dirt-poor family living in a Tennessee log cabin in what we southerners call a holler, her mom’s obstetric bill paid with cornmeal. She wore homemade clothes and endured teasing at school, but she realized she had the gift of music that could take her out of poverty. She started writing songs and singing as a child, and left for Nashville when she graduated high school.

• She never forgot her roots. She took ownership of a theme park and turned it into Dollywood, located just miles from that aforementioned holler. The park provided jobs for eastern Tennesseans, hundreds of millions of dollars for the local economy, and entertainment for local, national, and international patrons.

• She was a renowned philanthropist, donating millions in support of Tennesseans ravaged by the Smokey Mountain wildfires some ten years ago. She donated money and support to Vanderbilt University’s research on the Covid 19 vaccine. But what Dolly, daughter of an illiterate father, was most proud of was the creation of Imagination Library, a foundation that has donated over three hundred million books (and counting) to young children around the world.

• People close to her say she was a genuinely nice person. As a Christian, she believed we’re all God’s children, and we should treat each other with love and kindness, just like God treats us.

• She was comfortable in her own skin. In interviews, she often said, “It takes a lot of money to look this cheap.” My favorite quote of hers was her response to an interviewer’s question as to how long it took to do her hair. Dolly replied, “I don’t know; I’m never there when they’re doing it!” Classic! To be sure, Dolly was unacquainted with pretentiousness.

Yes, we’ll miss Dolly, but she’ll never be long-forgotten. Rumor has it that her final song will release in twenty years, on the hundred-year anniversary of her birthday!

May you rest in peace, Dolly. Now go to your eternal reward and sing with the choir of angels!

(Pixabay photo courtesy of couleur.)