Everywhere you look, someone is posting about Dolly Parton. Deservedly so.

In my mind, Dolly is the second coming. She lived every day remembering to be kind to herself and others. To share. To care. To make herself available to those in need, and always to remember her roots with respect and gratitude. 

In addition to the love and generosity she showed to everyone, and I do mean everyone, she also showed it to herself. That may be one of her greatest lessons.

A delightful sense of humor, a grip on what she was expressing (“It takes a lot of money to look this cheap”), and never apologizing about who she was is about as advanced a soul as most of us can only hope to be. I am sure she has earned her forever angel wings — meaning she never has to walk this earth again — which is wonderful for her and so very sad for us.

Let’s not waste Dolly’s exemplary model.

I can only hope to be as kind to myself as she was and to show that same respect to others.

Please join me in giving praise and thanks for her very existence.

Well hello to the Dolly in me.

Mary