Back in the day my grandparents always had her going on the tv, on one show or another. I never cared for the crazy hair and fancy country outfits, not to mention, I never really followed musicians because even back then, growing up with my own guitar and friends to play with, I already believed more people would enjoy playing instruments and making music if they spent less time focusing on professional musicians. Everybody here probably has heard me say that before. My own prejudice...lol.

So I pretty much ignored Dolly Parton for a long time...she grew up just on the other side of the holler where my M-I-L grew up and all that. But didn't mean much to me. Until one time I had the tv on Phil Donahue's talk show back in the early 80s. Daughter was little...can't remember how old, but toddler age. He had interesting conversations and I guess at that point he was my internet...lol...my Wikipedia or google or whatever...just exposure to ideas I hadn't heard before. I liked his show for that. Anyway, this one morning he had Dolly Parton on his show...and I was thinking..."Oh gee...just a famous musician on his show today. Boring." Well then once she started talking...I started paying attention. She was really smart and said right out loud that the hair and those outfits were not her...they were her gig...she made money from that. She talked about very cool stuff...like she was so far ahead of her time with her thinking about society and how to treat people etc. This was about when she was planning Dollywood in Sevier Co, Pigeon Forge, to give back to her impoverished community with good jobs and income. Later we knew people who worked there and they considered it a lifelong career...unlike any other amusement park...they stayed forever...had great benefits and were treated well. There was no "Corporate" they ever spoke of...only Dolly.

Well then of course as time went along I paid more and more attention to the stuff Dolly Parton did with her fame and wealth...I can't even remember all the things she was into...helping where help was needed...and very generous and accepting. She never became the billionaire status she had actually earned through her music, business decisions, and popularity, because she gave that much to good causes and to improve people's lives. I remember not that long ago when Gatlinburg burned down...a lot of people lost so much...she was there on the ground with checks for individuals in the thousands and promises for more to come until things got better. So much stuff she did ... she walked the walk, for sure.

Anyway, I grew to really love her as an example...I even started listening to her music when I happened to run across it on tv or whatever. It sure would be nice if other rich people would feel that personal obligation to reach out with their good fortune to help out so much suffering and difficulty in the rest of the world. So anyway, I found myself very affected by how we have lost such a good person in this world. How much she will be missed by all kinds of people all over the world. We are lucky...not just TN, or the US, but the whole world has been affected in one way or another by her actions generated by her love of humanity.
It's sad to see her go...but her kindness will live on for a long time to come. That's it...that's a groundhog's opinion, in case you never heard groundhogs' opinions before...lol.

Hope all is well with my FHO friends!