Corner to Corner by Columnist Diane D. Denish — Farewell Dolly Parton. May you rest in peace and may your melodies ring in our hearts, at our weddings, at our funerals, and all our celebrations where an angel on earth is always welcome.
Corner to Corner
Diane Denish is a former lieutenant governor of New Mexico. She is a native of Hobbs and now lives in Albuquerque.
When I heard the news of Dolly’s passing this morning and began to see the hundreds of images on my phone and my TV – I was saddened but at the same time oh so grateful for the life she lived. I wanted to shout out “I will always love you, Dolly.” I could hear that iconic song that she wrote when she left her singing partnership with Porter Wagner ringing in my ears. I could see her marching around with Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda singing 9 to 5 – about working hard and scraping by. What a way to make a livin!
“9 to 5” was a song that spoke to women about their struggle to put food on the table and to be acknowledged.
Dolly was the working woman’s angel on earth. Inspiring us with her talented song writing skills which spoke to us. In Jolene, she spoke for women whose “man” might be influenced by a more beautiful woman with a softer voice…trying to hold on.
She knew what was up in our lives and in our hearts. Her own life stories were rich and powerful, and she knew how to use them to speak to us through music. So many women learned to believe in themselves the way she believed in herself.
And then came the Dolly Parton Imagination Library – for 31 years Dolly’s imagination library has been gifting books to kids every month from birth to age 5. To date almost 335,000,000 books have been given to over 3,000,000 kids in 5 countries. And those gifts have poured into New Mexico too. Thousands of kids across the state have been the recipient of a book a month.
Last year we became an Imagination Library state with every county participating in the program.
And here’s the most amazing part of what that has done. It’s helped kids learn to read — it’s taught parents how to spend a few minutes reading to their kids from the very earliest months of their lives. It’s helped to nurture and cement bonds between parents and their children from the very first moments.
And best of all, her gift of the Imagination Library taught kids to love reading. With great anticipation thousands of kids wait at their mailboxes each month for their book. Their eyes sparkling as they open the mail. Tugging on their mom or dad or big brother or big sister asking them to read their newly arrived treasure.
Of course, there are other generous gifts she bestowed on her home state of Tennessee. $1 million for Vanderbilt University for COVID vaccine development, the MyPeopleFund for disaster relief for families, and others. She would easily have been a billionaire had she not given millions and millions of dollars to helping kids read, medical research, and disaster relief.
But when the roll is called it will be the music she wrote and produced and sang that told her story and ours….and the millions of kids who learned to love reading and who will teach generations to come to love reading that will be her greatest gifts to us.
Thank you, Dolly, for being our angel on earth. We will always love you.