Some Loves Are Just Different ❤️

 

I was so sad to hear that Dolly Parton passed away today. 💔

I loved Dolly. She was authentic, unapologetically herself, incredibly talented, generous, funny, and just…Dolly. And let's be honest—everyone knew Dolly for two things: her music and those girls. 😂🍈🍈 She never apologized for either one, and I absolutely loved that about her. She was truly an icon, and they don't make many like her anymore. Her legacy will live on forever through her music and the mark she left on the world.

But something else hit me today.

Dolly's husband, Carl, died last year after nearly 60 years of marriage. And as I get older, I've started noticing something about couples who have shared that kind of real love for decades.

Not the “we've been together forever because it's convenient” kind.

I'm talking about the couples who genuinely love each other. Who respect each other. Who hold hands. Who still tease each other. Who have spent so many years becoming part of one another that their lives are almost impossible to separate.

I saw a LOT of that when I was younger.

I spent nearly two decades working at MidState Federal Savings & Loan, an old-fashioned “Mom and Pop” kind of bank. Long before everything became digital, our customers came in and we actually knew them. They weren't account numbers. They were people. We knew their names, their families, their stories. We became a little family ourselves.

And I remember the older couples.

The way they would come in together. The little bantering. The teasing. The way they would reach for each other's hands without even thinking about it.

It was honestly one of the sweetest things I've ever witnessed.

And unfortunately, working there for so many years also meant watching those couples age… and eventually watching one of them pass away.

I can't tell you how many times I watched a spouse come in afterward to handle the financial things that have to be handled when someone dies.

And somewhere along the way, we became more than bankers.

We became listeners. Comforters. Unofficial therapists.

And I remember noticing something that stayed with me: sometimes, after decades of sharing a life with someone they truly loved, the surviving spouse just seemed to…fade.

Maybe it was grief. Maybe it was loneliness. Maybe it was simply that after 50 or 60 years of being part of a “we,” suddenly having to live as an “I” was more than they knew how to carry.

I don't know.

But as I've gotten older, I've come to appreciate those old love stories so much more.

Because THAT is the kind of love I think we're all secretly hoping exists.

The kind that isn't perfect, but is loyal.

The kind that isn't always romantic, but is deeply connected.

The kind where after 60 years, you still reach for the same hand.

Dolly and Carl had that.

And maybe that's why her passing feels a little different today.

Two people who spent most of their lives loving each other are now together again.

And somehow, I think that's a pretty beautiful love story. ❤️

Rest easy, Dolly. Thank you for the music, the laughter, the authenticity, the BIG personality… and, yes, the legendary boobs. 😂❤️

And Carl… I have a feeling someone you've been waiting for just walked through the door. ❤️