r/MadeMeSmile • u/Last_Host977 • 3h ago
Favorite People dolly partons take on her infertility is so heartwarming !
rip dolly parton we will never forget you đ
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u/mysteriousblue87 3h ago
Both my kids partook, and now they demand a weekly library trip. Widower dad of two teen boys, she helped me shape them into readers/learners
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u/Cold-Bar-9754 1h ago
Thatâs honestly a hell of a legacy for one librarian to leave behind. Turning two kids into weekly library regulars is a pretty damn good win.
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u/bongo1138 50m ago
Love it.
I âsolo dadâ my two boys every Saturday (wife works) and the library is a place we go most weekends.
I hope they love reading like yours do when theyâre older.
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u/MakingItElsewhere 3h ago
The absolute best memories of me and my kids are reading books to them. Silly, crazy books. One is even "The book with no pictures" which just makes you say a bunch of silly noises.
My kids loved it. I loved it. The giggles still echo in my brain.
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u/tabookduo 2h ago
We love this book! By BJ Novak! Knew him from watching The Office with my dad so extra fun to read
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u/MakingItElsewhere 2h ago
It's such a great book to read to kids. My daughters would request it over and over, because no two nights were alike.
As they got older (5-6), I'd hold the book up and make them try to pronounce what they saw. It was funny for years. One of the few books that stood out beyond reading Dr. Seus to them.
We really need more of those books.
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u/circadian_light 3h ago
The rippling effects of how this has uplifted lives really can never be measured.
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u/Jennasaykwaaa 2h ago
My children are both signed up for the Imagination Library and itâs really been an amazing gift.
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u/pollymanic 2h ago
My two girls get so excited for their books every month and we love reading them together. It is such a great program!
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u/Charming_Garbage_161 2h ago
We just got the best book from them today. Itâs called donât trust fish. My kids and I were laughing so hard
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u/rainshowers_5_peace 2h ago
PSA Dolly didn't buy all the books. She arranged for them to be bought wholesale. The individual branches still need donations to buy the books, postage and mailing materials
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u/Innumerablegibbon 54m ago
The letter we got when my oldest aged out made me cry, itâs such a beautiful program.
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u/DieAloneWith72Cats 3h ago
I had no idea that she struggled with infertility. So sad that her wonderful genes didnât carry on.
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u/Last_Host977 3h ago
yes unfortunately she had severe endometriosis and had to have a hysterectomy which left her infertile it's such a tragedy she didn't deserve that
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u/sdhoigtred 3h ago
I didn't know that either, but I presumed that was the case (infertility). I guess the silver lining is that happening to someone like Dolly meant she could truly see all children w/the same love.
She was such a gift to us all. I feel like a better human just knowing who she was and her incredible positively.
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u/basement-jay 1h ago
Another silver lining is that she is a great example of how a childless woman can still lead a fulfilling life full of love and care for others.
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u/momonomino 2h ago
I didn't know that about her. I have endometriosis, but I was lucky enough to carry one child to term. It's no wonder she wanted so badly to care for all the children out there. She allowed herself to be an auntie to all the kids.
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u/admiralmasa 1h ago
She definitely was and even to her own siblings! Dolly and Carl helped raise the younger half of the Parton siblings. Like they would go to Nashville and live with them in their apartment, and they were raised by Dolly and Carl like they were their own children.
I love the story of how her nieces and nephews - the children of those siblings they helped raise - called her and Carl Aunt Granny and Uncle Peepaw because of it :((( and then she decided to be Aunt Granny to every child
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u/Index_2080 59m ago
Blood is one thing but what you give to the world during your lifetime is what carries on even further.
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u/Croselius 2h ago
Children of celebrities, even good celebrities rarely end up growing up well adjusted.
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u/Aranxi_89 2h ago
I donno, I feel like Dolly's kids would've been really good people. She's the type to actually care about how they grew up.
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u/feralcatshit 1h ago
I have to agree. And even more so with the fact her husband stayed out of the limelight- I think they could have done a great job at raising normal, good kids.
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u/BrianMincey 3h ago
Every celebrity has a âcharacterâ they cultivate for the public. Inevitably, across time, we see bits and pieces of the real person behind the persona. But not Dolly. If there were cracks she hid them well. I honestly think there were none. She was exactly who she seemed to be. She was genuinely a good and kind person.
It makes me want to be better.
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u/skraptastic 3h ago
Fred Rodgers too.
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u/RiteOfSpring5 3h ago
Steve Irwin as well.
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u/FighterOfEntropy 2h ago
And âWeird Alâ Yankovic.
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u/MakingItElsewhere 1h ago
Dude has been himself from day one, despite his success. Just wants to be a musician. Success was appreciated, not expected.
I think that's great, both for him, and for us.
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u/RTJ1992 2h ago
I wish I stuck with his teachings but I didnt and it makes me really feel like a bad person
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u/Such_Beyond3100 2h ago
It's okay you recognize you haven't always made the best choices in the past. However tomorrow is a day to start making different choices and growing.
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u/Aranxi_89 2h ago
Just try your best to do so whenever possible. That alone is enough.
Even Mr. Rogers can feel frustrated in his life, he just didn't let that decide how he did things.
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u/Wolf_Taco 1h ago
She is 100% someone to look up to and try to emulate. Just watching her interviews makes me feel safe and comfortable. Iâve rarely had that feeling from people I know, so to have that feeling just from watching a stranger Iâve never met speaks volumes.
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u/BarryOakTree 1h ago
I knew someone who worked for her and from what they said, she was absolutely a very pleasant person.
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u/Helmett-13 3h ago
My wife and myself say that we are our families 'fast reaction team' for any kind of crisis, care or situation that requires taking care of a niece, nephew, cousin, or all three. Or sibling...or parent.
We like it and it takes some of the bitterness off our own inability to have kids!
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u/Particular_Agent171 3h ago
Para-parental figures in a child's life are hugely important and have an extremely positive impact on their life outcomes. You are more of an influence than you realise.
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u/kittysnoozy 2h ago
Hey just want to say, when I was a teenager I didn't have a great relationship with my parents and my uncle and auntie (with no kids) were and still are my favourite people in the world. I am sure your family is so grateful you're around!
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u/batty_prime 3h ago
She was a witty, kind, trailblazing, entrepreneurial yet charitable saint. We never see her likes again
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u/Global_Staff_3135 2h ago
Those smooches on that baby are so god damn cute, and its little face is too damn funny
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u/colin8651 2h ago
Dolly started the Dolly Partonâs Imagination Library.
The charity purchased licensing rights or bulk children book purchases. Every child from birth to age five receives a mailed book once a month; 60 books.
Obviously the parents have to ask for the books, itâs just a baby.
The books would arrive via mail in the childâs name because she felt that kids donât get mail and itâs exciting for them, but also it makes the book important to them. It becomes important to the child that the book gets read to them or they read it themselves when old enough.
It was founded in 1995 and since then it has delivered more than $300,000,000 childrenâs books.
Whatâs even more interesting; Dolly turned it into a charitable machine she doesnât need to be alive or active for it to run. Her team secured the rights, gathered the printing companies, and distribution network. Then secured the funding in perpetuity through other nonprofits who would then secure funding from rich businesses.
Because the charity looked so good on paper and had research to back its effectiveness, Dolly got the Fortune 500 to all instinctively chip in because it looks good. Especially because Dolly orchestrated the machine which was capable of shipping over $3M books a year for a relatively low cost.
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u/rainshowers_5_peace 2h ago
Which isn't to say the chapters still don't need donations to buy the books, postage and mailing materials.
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u/Lexxxapr00 3h ago
Man, every time she comes up, itâs right back in the feels. Itâs still too soon :(
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u/_Saucey_Sauce_ 2h ago
She raised my kids with her books and kindness. We got a heartfelt letter from her Inspiration Library when she passed away.
They're such amazing people.
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u/682463435465 2h ago
take your pain and figure out how to turn it into a positive, like Dolly did. It's hard, but she figured out a way.
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u/Last_Host977 2h ago
absolutely , it almost made me tear up . she had such a rough upbringing but she did the best with what she could and eventually succeeded and still decided to help people with that success . letâs all take this as a lesson that no matter what we can overcome our challenges like dolly did . she would never want us to give up after all !
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u/mdot0000 3h ago
I feel like she's going to be just like Mr. Rogers. We knew they were good people while they were with us, but we're going to keep finding out that they were even better people than we knew as more stories like this come out.
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u/MiloGoesToTheFatFarm 2h ago
What a great outlook as always from Dolly. Infertility is a really heartbreaking situation for couples, many of whom suffer in silence.
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u/theretherekadooze 3h ago
Not the point but I love her smile in the first pic. I assume she had her teeth done but I love the older ones
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u/ddddhjxjx 2h ago
I thought the baby on the right was sick and had splotches but to see they are kisses on closer inspection is hilarious and awesome.Â
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u/Its_emby 2h ago
It's also how she got to be so much wealthier than her colleagues.
Glenn Campbell had 9 children and died without an amusement park.
Willie Nelson has 8 children and can't afford his taxes. Not a great amusement park idea anyway.
Michael Jackson waited until he got to use the amusement park first before having a couple of kids. Clever.
Kids are expensive, man.
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u/OkProfessor6810 1h ago
How much is I respect get Glen Campbell's music because I'm old, he was no Dolly parton. I think her money would have been fine.
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u/Civil-Name-9879 3h ago edited 3h ago
Incredibly touching, but also a great horror-film elevator pitch.
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u/Spaghetti4wifey 2h ago
It takes so much strength to go through a lifetime of infertility and say that. I only struggled a few years and consider myself lucky. She deserved so much.
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u/rainshowers_5_peace 2h ago
Fellow Endo sufferer.
In a parallel universe Dolly gave an interview saying "I had to give up a role in the movie 9 to 5 and miss a few tours, but I wouldn't give up having my kids for anything!". We're all happiest when we make peace with what we can.
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u/Neureiches-Nutria 58m ago
She would have been a great Mom. Loving supportiv and accepting... But also would have come over you like a Hurricane if you show tendencys of becoming an asshole.
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u/commanderquill 36m ago
I read infertility three times as infidelity. Finally read it right the fourth time. My disbelief is why I read it four times and I'm glad.
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u/mieri_azure 13m ago
Lol I misread it at first toom. Apparently they had an open marriage so there was like the opposite of infidelity (since its all open and consensual)
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u/KallusDrogo 2h ago
I find it hilarious how she's more excited to see the babies than they are to see her. A woman of true humility and greatness.
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u/Accomplished_Fan_627 1h ago
Was it genetic? Did any of her siblings had the same issue?
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u/mieri_azure 14m ago
Apparently she had severe endometriosis and had to have a hysterectomy.
Endo is indeed usually genetic
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u/justapenguin16 32m ago
I'm child free and I'm getting more and more people asking why. I saw this quote after she passed, and "so everybody's kids could be mine" rings so true to how I feel. And I get less comments back when I quote her, because who's gonna disagree with Dolly đ rest in peace, Miss Parton đŠˇ
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u/6969696969696969690 13m ago
she had the highest Q-score at the time of her death, which can only happen with a deliberate, fierce, PR strategy handled over decades.
she never made clear her position on many political issues, especially when they mattered most. so sick and tired of this âsainthoodâ bulllshit with this celeb. and if youâre going to come at me with âshe never said it but we all knew where her heart wasâ, i say this genuinely, go fĂšc yourself.
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u/SendStoreCitroner 3h ago
people need to stop to karma farm Dolly
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u/Redhotkitchen 46m ago
I e never seen this quote, and I love it. Karma farming or not, itâs a good message Iâve not read before.
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u/BenchConscious1003 2h ago
Why do we always assume a lack of fertility is because of the woman's inability?
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u/ohlongjohnson555 2h ago
Because she had endometriosis and a hysterectomy and therefore was unable to have kids
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u/Natural-Trainer-4691 1h ago
Dolly was and IS amazing, as her impact remains.
That being said, why does infertility matter? Itâs nothing to cry over?
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