Dolly Parton is mourning her husband of nearly 60 years while holding tight to their memories and leaning on her Dollywood family.
Parton surprised fans and Dollywood season passholders on March 14 at the opening celebration for the theme park’s 40th season, making her first public appearance since her husband Carl Dean died March 3.
“I will always love him, and I miss him,” Parton told the crowd, also thanking fans for their flowers, cards and well wishes.
It’s tradition for Parton to lead the season’s opening ceremony, but parkgoers would have understood if she had chosen to skip this year’s event. However, Parton wanted to be at Dollywood for the occasion.
“I need to laugh. I need some fun, so I’m probably gonna be stupid. I’ve been crying enough the last week or two,” she said after ignoring the teleprompter several times and cracking jokes while previewing the season with Dollywood President Eugene Naughton.
Parton opened up more about her beloved husband in an interview with Knox News, and reminisced on Dean’s secret Dollywood visits.
Dolly Parton on losing Carl Dean: ‘It’s a hole in my heart’
“I’m doing better than I thought I would,” Parton said, sitting down with Knox News nearly two weeks after losing her husband. “I’ve been with him 60 years. So, I’m going to have to relearn some of the things that we’ve done. But I’ll keep him always close.”
An 18-year-old Parton met Dean in 1964 outside a laundromat on the very first day she moved to Nashville from Sevierville to start a career in country music. The couple secretly wed in 1966 and had no children together.
“I’m at peace that he’s at peace, but that don’t keep me from missing him and loving him,” Parton said, noting that Dean had “suffered a great deal.”
“It’s a hole in my heart, you know, but we’ll fill that up with good stuff and he’ll still always be with me,” Parton continued.
