I’m absolutely heartbroken over Dolly’s passing. I have always loved her and I always will. Her music has been there for me through many times, good times, bad times, boring times. But beyond the many songs of hers I know by heart, I love Dolly primarily because of who she was and the things she stood for. I think we all have a lot to learn from her and I hope she will continue to inspire us all. Her confidence and her smarts shone brighter than her rhinestones, but her most amazing quality was her generosity. Through her talent, intelligence, and determination, Dolly amassed a great fortune and she could have easily become a billionaire. But Dolly didn’t want to be a billionaire. She didn’t want to hoard money and let it compound. She wanted to use her wealth for the greater good, and that’s what she did. Top priority among the causes she championed was literacy. Through her Imagination Library, Dolly provided more than 300 million books to children, books that were mailed to them each month from birth and which were carefully selected for each developmental stage.
It makes me so sad to think that someone so wonderful is no longer with us at a time when the world needs her. I guess it’s up to us to keep on fighting for the things that matter, keep on trying to make the world a better place one book at a time, and overall try to be good people and do good things to make her proud.
The light in this world was just a little dimmer today without her.