Some might say, well she was 80 what did you expect.
Dolly seemed timeless, as though she could live on forever.
The world knew Dolly, but Tennessee, especially East Tennessee, claimed her in a way nobody else did.
She was born of the mountains, raised the same way a lot of us were.
She knew poverty and the old way of living, and a lot of us saw our own families in her.
Her success became ours, and when she made it out of the mountains, it felt like we did too.
But Dolly never forgot her mountain upbringing.
She never forgot her people.
The world remembers the singer, the actress, the over-the-top blonde bombshell.
Tennessee remembers the woman who gave back.
The woman who promised $500 to Sevier County students if they graduated high school.
The woman who helped turn a theme park into a major source of jobs and tourism for Sevier County.
The woman who started a reading program for kids because her own dad couldn't read.
There's not enough time or space to really say what Dolly did, not just for Tennessee but America.
She donated $1 million to COVID research; she helped raise money for the American Red Cross, she supported HIV/AIDS charities and research.
We lost one of the good ones today.
The world will be a colder, emptier, less sparkly place now.
We were eating dinner when the news came across about Dolly.
It felt as if the world stopped spinning for a few minutes.
You know she's old, but you don't ever really think she could die.
I know it’s a weird thing to say, but the world has always had Dolly.
I may be wrong, but I think it's only Willie left now.
I mean, I know Garth Brooks, and Randy Travis, and those ’80s singers are still out there.
I don't really count them.
I'm talking about the George Jones era, the real country music era.
Yes, I know Dolly crossed genres and could do that pop country style too, but she got started back when country was really country and I’ll just walk on away now.
Somebody needs to bubble wrap Willie and Cher, and Bruce Springsteen while they’re at it.
He’s got to be getting up there in age.
There's not a lot more to say about the day.
Badger and I took an early morning walk, and let me tell you, it's starting to feel like fall out there.
By the time we got back home, she'd gotten a headache, so the rest of the day was TV and computer.
Some days are just that way.
Oh, I did send Raven a text, and surprisingly Cowboy backed me up.
I asked nicely.
I can be nice believe it or not.
I just said, are you ever coming back down to stay?
Um, OK, maybe that didn't come out sounding nice, especially sending a text.
He says no, so I say alright, you need to come down and clear out this bedroom.
I want my storage room back, and I can't do anything as long as you still have all your things here.
Well, I might be able to come down one day.
So I'm going to start collecting boxes, and bubble wrap.
Badger and I will go in, start packing him up.
I know full and well he's never going to come down, and pack himself up.
His junk can have one side of the room, and my junk the other.
I won't start moving my things back in until January, though.
I know his ex‑wife won't let him stay with her forever.
Right now she’s in a new relationship and deep in the honeymoon phase, and she’s always sweet as honey when she’s like that.
I also let him know that I'm taking the bed down.
That’s about as clear as I can be that I’m not up for any surprise overnight visits.
I told him that we still wanted to see him and the grandkids, we're not kicking them out of the family.
Just out of my house.
With that, I'm going to bed.
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