Long before Dolly Parton became synonymous with rhinestones, packed arenas, and international fame, she imagined audiences from the porch of a one bedroom cabin in the mountains of East Tennessee. Her...
Three days before my sister Leah’s birthday, she called and asked me not to bring my husband, Marcus. Her voice was careful, and I initially thought the request came from an old family disagreement. W...
My twin sister Laura disappeared on our sixteenth birthday in 1986. She left the party wearing a sweater our mother had knitted, decorated with a large yellow sunflower and one brown petal made by mis...
My husband Dean and I trusted our neighbors Tracy and Kevin enough to leave them a spare key while we traveled for two weeks. They had watched our home before, remembered our children’s birthdays, and...
During school pickup, a cafeteria worker followed my ten year old son Noah into the hallway and handed me his blue thermos. She whispered that I should not open it because it was not the one he brough...
Yellow ladybugs are often mistaken for unusual versions of the familiar red beetle, but color alone does not identify a species. Lady beetles appear in yellow, orange, red, brown, and even black. The ...
I was a 45 year old single mother raising seven children when I began cooking dinner for Arthur, the meanest 80 year old man on our street. He yelled when my children rode near his fence, called them ...
Before sunrise every Tuesday, Stella Parton prepared coffee and spoke by telephone with her older sister Dolly. The ritual survived decades of fame, travel, family change, and work. It connected two w...
Miley Cyrus said years ago that August 25 repeatedly marked turning points in her life. She deliberately released the reflective song Used to Be Young on that date in 2023 because it connected several...
Dolly Parton surprised visitors at the June 24 opening of Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop outside Cornersville, Tennessee. She arrived in towering heels, full makeup, and the bright public energy fans ...