“I Truly Believe I’m Going To See Him Again Someday” – Dolly Parton Says Her Faith Gives Her Peace After The Loss Of Her Husband, Carl Dean

Keeping the faith.

Dolly Parton’s husband of almost 60 years, Carl Dean, passed away in Nashville at the age of 82 in March, and she has been staying busy while mourning the loss of her beloved husband.

Dolly has made several appearances since his passing, notably showing up at Dollywood for opening day just weeks after his death, where she performed and thanked fans for all of their support. She has had several collabs, and even announced new books, since then, so she’s as busy as ever with all of her ventures and projects, and she likes it that way.

They’ve been together for for nearly 60 years and have a beautiful love story, so as you can imagine, it’s been an incredibly difficult time for the country icon learning to adjust to a new life without her beloved husband.

Dolly has stayed very busy working, though, and has a lot going on with her Dolly musical that will premiere in Nashville this summer, and she also just put out a new book called Star of the Show, which is about her life on the road and onstage. She also launched a makeup brand called Dolly Beauty last year, in addition to growing her presence in grocery stores all over the country with Duncan Hines, which has expanded beyond cake mixes into frozen foods and more.

She has always been an extremely hard worker, and has talked about her work being a great distraction from her loss, which I’m sure many people can relate to. But of course, I’m sure she is spending a lot more time alone when she’s at home, which has got to be a hard new reality to adjust to after being in such a long, loving relationship. In speaking with The Independent, Dolly explained that her faith is sustaining her in this time, and she “truly believes” she will see Carl again someday, and what a beautiful reunion that will be (hopefully a long time from now, of course).

While he was ill for a while before he passed, and Dolly, who has always been a woman of great faith, is at peace knowing he’s in a much better place, that doesn’t make the grieving process any easier:

“I am a person of faith, and I truly believe that I’m going to see him again someday. And I see him every day in my memories and in my heart, and in all the things that we used to do and all the things that we’ve built together. You just kind of have to learn to kind of make new plans – but that’s the hardest part. I really feel his presence.

I just try to go on, because I know I have to. And he was ill for quite a while, and part of me was at peace that he was at peace and not suffering anymore. But that still doesn’t make up for the loss and the loneliness of it.”

Dolly said her husband was always “very proud” of her, though he was extremely private and stayed completely out of the spotlight for his entire life. She is using all of her energy now to continue working and being the queen that she is:

“So when I did lose him, I just thought, well, I’m going to take all of that energy, and I’m just going to put that back into other things, and I’ll keep him ever-present in everything that I do.

I just think that if you’re successful, if you are lucky enough to see your dreams come true, you need to make new dreams out of your other dreams. It’s like a tree with lots of limbs and leaves, so every dream, you can kind of branch off – if you’ll pardon the expression – and do other things.”

Her dreams now probably look a bit different without Carl, but they had a once-in-a-lifetime love, and the famous story goes that Dolly and Carl met outside of the Wishy Washy laundromat in Nashville in 1964, the same day that Dolly moved to Music City.

They dated for two years, and decided they wanted to get married. And actually, at the time of their wedding, Dolly’s newfound record label didn’t want her to get married at all. They thought it might tarnish her image, and as we all know, Dolly did what she wanted anyways… so she and Carl Dean secretly ran off to Ringgold, Georgia, along with Parton’s mom Avie Lee as a witness, and headed for the local courthouse.

The rest, as they say, is history, and he’s been by her side for decades, and while we never saw him in-person, he was a guiding light and rock in the life of an incredible woman who accomplished everything and more. I can’t imagine how sad the must be deep down, but it looks, and sounds, like she’s doing relatively okay, which is great to hear.

Dolly recently released a beautiful tribute to her late husband called “If You Hadn’t Been There,” which you should definitely check out below.

The post “I Truly Believe I’m Going To See Him Again Someday” – Dolly Parton Says Her Faith Gives Her Peace After The Loss Of Her Husband, Carl Dean first appeared on Whiskey Riff.