No one could blame Dolly Parton if she wanted to remain in hiding after losing her husband. It's immensely difficult to do anything grappling with that kind of grief. I can't begin to imagine how stressful that might be as such a public figure like Parton. What do you even say to the people? How do you muster up the energy to answer all of their pressing, sometimes invasive questions? However, Dolly stands tall and courageous in her return to the public spotlight.
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Recently, Parton came back to her theme park Dollywood for its 40 year anniversary. This marks her first public appearance since losing her husband Carl Dean. Naturally, the audience was incredibly surprised to see her as she took the stage. Then, Dolly formally addresses the elephant in the room.
"I just want to take a minute to thank all of you for all of the flowers and cards and the well wishes for the loss of Carl. You know how I loved him. He would want me to be working today," Dolly says. "I just wanted you to know, of course, that I will always love him. And I will always miss him."
Dolly Parton Takes to The Public for The First Time Since Losing Husband Carl Dean
Additionally, there was a moment in which she engages in a playful bit of banter with her co-host Eugene Naughton. You might think that it would be strange to crack jokes at a time like this. However, she stresses that it's bad for her mental health to fixate on it too much. "I said I need to laugh. I need some fun so I'm probably gonna be stupid. I've been crying enough the last week or two," Dolly shares.
Separately, Parton
sits down with local Tennessee news journalist Kyle Grainger where she talks a little further about her late husband. There, she admits that she didn't know people had such investment in her marriage. "I had no idea that so many people were in love with our love, with our love story," Dolly says. "It is a heartbreaker, no doubt. I'll always deal with waves coming in and out, but at least I've had my work. Carl would expect that. That's all I've ever done."
