How Faith and Community Helped Dolly Parton Rise Above Adversity
When the Smoky Mountains, Dolly Parton's beloved home, were ravaged by wildfires in 2016, the country icon knew the people of the area had the strength to rebuild. Speaking about the "mountain strong" spirit of the locals, she shared her admiration for their resilience. "Everybody here has that spiritual backbone," she explained, reflecting on her own humble beginnings in the region. "Good neighbors, faith, and trust in God — along with trust in one another — bring everyone together as a team." Dolly emphasized the importance of community and family in times of need, a lesson she learned from her own life. Her unwavering faith has been a guiding light through some of the toughest challenges she's faced.
Dolly and her husband, Carl.
Facing Life's Challenges with Strength and Faith
Like everyone else, Dolly Parton has faced her share of struggles. "I hurt like everybody else. I'm not always happy," she has admitted. Over the years, she's navigated personal and professional hurdles, including a family tragedy during her childhood in the poverty-stricken Appalachian hills, a medical condition in the '80s that halted her career, and a marital crisis that once left her contemplating her own mortality. Yet, through it all, her faith in God has remained steadfast. "A belief in God is essential," she says. Her daily prayers and trust in the divine have been a lifeline through every crisis.
Read also:Jeff Goldblums Journey To Fatherhood Later In Life
As the fourth of Robert Parton and Avie Parton's 12 children, Dolly was surrounded by religion from an early age. "Our grandparents were Christians, and our granddad was a minister — a healer, actually," her sister Stella Parton revealed in a new interview with Closer Weekly. "Our grandparents believed in anointing people with olive oil and praying over them if they were ill. So, if we were injured, we were prayed for." Stella, whose Old Time Singing gospel album was digitally released last year, says that she, Dolly, and their siblings still cherish their spiritual upbringing. "It shaped Dolly into who she is today, inside and out," Stella insisted. "Growing up with very little except our family connection and God meant everything. Our faith is the most important thing to all of us. It was the key to our survival."
Dolly and her sister Stella.
A Childhood Marked by Hardship and Healing
The Parton family lived in a one-room shack in Locust Ridge, TN, before eventually moving to a small house. Life was tough, and tragedy struck when Dolly's brother Larry was born when she was nine years old. "Since there were so many of us, my mother used to say, 'This one is gonna be your baby,'" Dolly recalled, meaning she had to take extra care of him. Tragically, Larry passed away just four days after birth. "This particular baby was my baby," Dolly shared, "so there was a lot of heartache that came with that. But all things are hard, and that's what makes you who and what you are."
In the wake of this loss, young Dolly found solace in an abandoned chapel near her home, which had a broken-down piano inside. It was there that her love for music flourished. She crafted a makeshift instrument from some of the piano's old strings and wrote songs that reflected her experiences. "I would sing hymns to God," Dolly remembered, and she prayed fervently in that space. "One day, as I prayed earnestly, I broke through some sort of spirit wall and found God," she revealed. She described her connection with the Lord as "a
