08/25/2026
Today, like all of Tennessee, my home is grieving.
Losing our beloved Dolly is something we all knew would happen eventually (although I’d prefer to think she was going to live forever) and now that the day has come, I am overwhelmed with grief.
Today I swapped out our little free library to honor Dolly, with books from her DPIL program as well as some bookmarks and other goodies. Please feel free to visit the LFL and take a gift from my family to yours.
I encourage everyone to donate to the DPIL in honor of Dolly- it is truly a great organization and I am happy to show them my support year after year. If you’re a Tennessee resident, you can get a DPIL license plate for your car and donate that way as well!
Dolly would also encourage donating to or volunteering time with your local library. She’d love if you went through your home library and dropped your extras off at a library or a little free library. My porch is always open if you choose to donate books this way- I also distribute the to others in the area that need books. I almost always have a box of books in my car for if I happen to pass an empty one.
My family absolutely adores Dolly…. This is going to be a long post, but bear with me- it’s from the heart. I’d love to share our love for her with you.
All four of our children have received books from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library starting at birth. We have the DPIL license plate on our minivan. We provide information about the program in our little free library at all times. We advocate for this program because literacy changes lives.
We are diamond passholders at Dollywood and frequently make the trip for cinnamon bread, good music, big bear mountain, and the thrill of it all. We went on opening day this year and got to see Dolly in her parade.
Our closets are full of Dolly’s face, butterflies, and rhinestones.
Today is a day I don’t think I’ll ever forget. I was driving when my husband saw the news on social media and he wouldn’t tell me until the vehicle was stopped because he didn’t know how I would react. I didn’t believe him. I said that can’t be true, this rumor happens a lot… then when we got to our destination I watched the announcement video myself- and have a few times since.
Losing Dolly is such a profound loss for our state and our world. Dolly was an advocate for literacy, for being yourself, and for so much more- all on top of building an absolutely beautiful country music career. She showed young girls they CAN be great business women. She changed the lives of an entire population of people by turning a small town into a thriving vacation destination.
If there’s one thing Dolly would want us to remember, it is to love one another and never give up. To continue advocating for literacy and for the children- ALL of the children.
And as always, dream more, learn more, care more, and be more. 🦋
