Why we really miss Dolly already

By Carew Papritz Why do we miss Dolly Parton so much? I mean really miss her. She was less a celebrity and more like a ... a sister. A friend. An aunt. Or even like a mom. That's how her music spoke to us. So familiar—the loving and the longing all mixed up, like it's supposed to be. Her being gone was like your first broken heart and every heart breaking thereafter. As with any great love, we didn't know how much we would miss her until she was actually gone. So why do we really miss Dolly so much? Dolly Parton arrives at the 53rd annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Evan Agostini/Invision/AP Because of her goodness. The how you're supposed to treat everyone you meet, born in her heart and soul upbringing—goodness. You didn't even have to be a Dolly Parton fan to know what goodness she brought to the world. But when you really found out, that's when the real missing began. We miss her because we're hungry for her decency again. Yes, that sounds like a refrain from an old musical or play. What's decency, kindness, or laughter? Dolly Parton. What's faith, love, giving, happiness, helpfulness, love thy neighbor, Golden Rule'ness, commitment, character, joy, (what else am I missing?) It's Dolly Parton. Dolly was everything the world is not, at this moment. She was not the morning breakfast anger and the daily social media of diet of fibs, falsehoods, pitting friend and family against one another. She was not the demeaning, the name calling, the beating down, which now has become the abnormal 'normal.' Dolly was the Golden Rule personified. Her moral compass always pointed north. It was that simple. I miss the Jesus in her. That looked after the poor. The one that saw everyone as equal. From the poor to the drag queens. From Blacks to the gays. From kings to paupers. It didn't matter to her. She just cared, which was the beauty of her humility and the power of her faith. Play Dolly Parton 9 to 5 this weekend IGT She never apologized for who she was and what she was—and how she was brought up. 'Dirt poor but happy' she would have said. She never apologized for her magnificent big hair like a country music Rapunzel; the rhinestones that flowed down her clothes like a waterfall; and the ever-present, in-your-face chest that told the world who was coming even before she arrived. She could have taught a master class in leadership. Why being true to your word is the ultimate power. And the secret sauce to leading is never supposed to be secret because it's always supposed to be share—with everyone. Dolly was fearless. She was the ultimate happy feminist without being a feminist. Watch her in '9 to 5' and then you'll truly understand a world and time where men ruled supreme. How did she tilt at those windmills? By poking fun at herself and standing firm to who she was. That's the lionhearted gift she passed on to all woman going forward. She gave and gave and gave of her heart, herself, her money, her creativity to everyone as if she was a fountain of water in the middle of the desert. She did what was right, not what was wrong. That's not old fashioned—that's timeless. FILE - Country singer Dolly Parton appears at a rehearsal session in Nashville, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 1982. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File) AP Photo/Mark Humphrey She outgave the richest people on earth (except Warren Buffet) not because it was a brand strategy or meme or a post. She gave because she could. And that's just what you do—and she did. Here is a small list of her giving: 300,000,000 million books given away through her Imagination Library $1,000,000 dollars given to Moderna to help develop the Covid vaccine. $1000 a month given to every flood victim in Tennessee until they could get back on their feet. 2.5 million meals given to the Salvation Army to provide food and meals to over 2.5 million people. Millions contributed to local medical centers, funding high school dropout prevention, and college scholarship programs. FILE - Dolly Parton performs on NBC's "Today" show in New York on May 13, 2014. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File) AP Photo/Charles Sykes You can watch Dolly Parton in 9-5 for free right now on Philo. Philo And the list goes on and on ... What a beautiful magnificent human being. I really miss Dolly. Yes, there is giant hole in the universe from her loss. Yet the greatest gift we can give back to her and her legacy is to strive to be like Dolly—the decency and kindness, the politeness and giving, the humility and laughter—and that ever present Golden Rule that was the heart and soul of who she was—and still is. Carew Papritz is the award-winning author of The Legacy Letters.