Hello Dolly!

10 Things I Admire about Dolly Parton:

1. Dolly can’t actually read sheet music, but she can play at least 10 instruments including the guitar, electric guitar, banjo, autoharp, mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer, piano, saxophone, and pan-flute.
2. She wrote her first song at the age of five and has since written more than 5,000. She considers herself primarily a songwriter rather than a performer.
3. Dolly and her husband Carl Dean have been married for 56 years.
4. Dolly was one of twelve kids in her family and grew up dirt poor, but she has never been ashamed of her humble roots. Of the many songs she has written, she says her personal favorite is “Coat of Many Colors.” Link to it: https://youtu.be/c1zJzr-kWsI
5. In 1986, Dolly opened her theme park, Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The park has approximately 4,000 people on its payroll, making it the largest employer in the community. Each year the park draws 2.5 million guests who also support area hotels, restaurants, and shops.
6. Full-time, part-time, and seasonal employees at Dollywood are eligible for a new program, GROW U, which offers to pay tuition, fees, and books for those wanting to seek degrees or other educational opportunities.
7. In 1995 Dolly launched her “Imagination Library.” It now mails over 2 million books each and every month to children around the world.
8. In 2016, a wildfire ravaged Gatlinburg, Tennessee near Dolly Parton’s childhood home. Hundreds of people lost their homes. Dolly gave $1,000-per-month stipends to people displaced by the fire as well as $4,500 scholarships to all junior and senior high school students who lost their homes in the fire.
9. Dolly donated $1 million to help fund the development of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
10. Dolly is a class act. She answers her critics with dignity and wit. Check out her 1977 interview with Barbara Walters on YouTube.

10 Fun Quotations from Dolly Parton:

1. “I have often joked that we had two rooms and a path and running water, if you were willing to run to get it.”
2. “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”
3. “You’d be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap.”
4. “I’m very real where it counts, and that’s inside.”
5. “Find out who you are. And do it on purpose.”
6. “Being a star just means that you just find your own special place, and that you shine where you are. To me, that’s what being a star means.”
7. “You need to really believe in what you’ve got to offer, what your talent is—and if you believe, that gives you strength.”
8. “Energy begets energy.”
9. “Don’t get so busy making a living that you forgot to make a life.”
10. “If you see someone without a smile today, give ‘em yours.”

Please encourage your friends and family to subscribe at: justaboutanything.life
Please encourage Mona at: encouragemona@gmail.com
Download a pdf version of Just About Anything August 2022