08/26/2026
🦋💫 I’ve dreaded yesterday for as long as I can remember, while somehow convincing myself it simply would never come.
I needed time to process yesterday, still hoping somehow it wasn’t real. That I would wake up today and it had all been a dream.
I really felt like I actually knew her, even though I didn’t. I know so many of us did.
I’ve loved Dolly since I was a child. I was always drawn to the gaudiest, most elaborately dressed and made-up women I saw, so of course I loved her. But as I got older, I admired everything else about her even more.
She taught us you can do it all and be everything, and never apologize for any part of who you are. You can be feminine, smart, funny and ambitious. You can dream impossibly big and never forget where you came from.
I’ll never stop being inspired by her—her talent, work ethic, beauty, creativity, generosity, all of it. But maybe most of all, the way she treated people. She treated people the way God intended us to. No questions, disclaimers, or politics. She just loved everyone and treated them with respect. That’s how it should be.
Dolly is deeply embedded in what we do at The Amsden. Her Imagination Library was a huge part of my early free storytimes, where we collected money for it each week. Those storytimes eventually helped inspire Gathered Play + Create. So in turn, Dolly was a little part of inspiring that dream too.
This morning, we had the sweetest music class. We sang and danced to her songs, played little instruments and read her books. I know she would’ve just loved it.
We’ll keep celebrating our annual Dolly Week around her birthday every January. And I have a feeling she’ll be even more deeply embedded in what we do there from now on. There will always be a little Dolly at The Amsden.
I’m just very sad to live in a world without Dolly.
I hope to carry a tiny piece of her with me. I’ll never be as sweet as her, but I should probably try to be. Work harder, dream bigger, give more, love people better, wear exactly what I want and never apologize for who I am.
I think that’s what Dolly taught all of us. 💕
💔 I will always love you Dolly Parton
