The other day, I was ruminating on death. I was thinking about how Charlie Kirk’s death was absorbed by this country as one of our darker moments. The assassination attempts on Trump’s life and how often the Left dreams of, fantasizes about his death were proof enough that we’ve turned a corner in our society where death is almost meaningless.
That’s where you arrive when you’re on the brink of war, and the horrors of it reel us back in and remind us that life is precious. I know when I die, so many people I used to know and work with will be glad I’m gone and will not remember me well. I’m lucky to have so many kind readers here who will mourn. That is a comfort to me.
But I was wondering if there was any person whose death would be mourned by everyone across partisan lines and all over the world, and that person died today.
No one says it better than Trump himself. There will never be another Dolly Parton. She was an angel. She was generous of heart and spirit. She leaves behind a vast legacy of kindness toward all. You can’t say that about many people, but you can say that about her.
She was known for her body, for sure, and that was her trademark. But as a woman who is also well-endowed, I always thought that what that meant to me was pride rather than shame or vanity. Everyone loved her. She was comfortable with how she looked, and even after losing a lot of weight, she maintained her famous assets.
But she was a lot more than that. She lived her life giving to others, whether it was the books she’s been giving to kids for 31 years…
To her charity work, to the truck stops for truckers. She gave back, and her life was defined by giving as much as it was by entertaining.
My favorite song of hers was the one made famous by Whitney Houston:
She came from nothing and became a legend. It’s one of the few times in our modern lives that we will all come together in a shared experience, shared mourning. That’s how special she was and there will never be another.
She will be remembered well. Rest in peace, beautiful Dolly.
"It takes a lot of money to look this cheap." - D. Parton
We should all be as good a person as Dolly.