Dolly Parton

 I was early to a kid sitting gig I had with another celebrity family I used to work for on the regular.

Both parents are well known actors and one of them, unbeknownst to me was working on a project with Dolly Parton.

When I arrived at their house the parents were wrapping up what looked like a social call with a friend, a tiny blonde woman who had a sweet and vivacious energy.

Everyone was standing around the kitchen talking and watching the kids doing arts and crafts at the table.

My first priority is to check in with the parents and kids so I did. The parents were surprised at the time and politely begged the tiny blonde’s forgiveness for having to rush up stairs and get ready for their night out. She said it was ‘no thing’ and she was content to watch the kids while she waited for her driver to pick her up outside of their house.

Since the kids seemed completely engrossed in their activity and dinner was already prepared I let them be. And stood with the tiny blonde next to the kitchen sink and watched the kids as they played nicely together creating paper bag puppets.

I have a deep love for this family and though I was pursuing a nursing degree at the time I always made an effort to be available to watch the kids whenever they asked.

I remarked to the tiny blonde how great it was to work for such an loving family. They are wonderful parents who make raising their kids a priority. They make huge efforts to always be present with their children and to teach them how to communicate and regulate the emotional environment of growing up in a family where both parents work and can’t always be physically present.

Part of my job has always been to help busy parents bridge the gap and communicate effectively with their children. I’m not just their for the kids I’m support for the family unit and in this particular case I knew they were already a well oiled machine of love and integrity and truly enjoyed being part of their team.

She was intrigued, and genuinely interested in hearing more. Saying she loved hearing that the people she worked with were good and loving people, especially to their children and verified by others who worked for them.

I became embarrassed, feeling I had gushed too much and perhaps revealed personal information to a stranger whose relationship to the family I didn’t know.

She seemed truly kind and her steady eye contact sparkled with joy and peace. She was very pretty and I couldn’t place her age, her energy was young and vibrant yet lovingly steady and balanced like an old soul.

I looked away, back at the kids, as she entreated me to tell her more about why I thought the parents were good people. Vying for time and trying to decide if/what to say next I watched as a lovely young woman in blue silently settle the kids as they started to squabble over sharing a marker.

The Dad had returned and seemed honored and happy to hear what was being talked about and said it was ok for me to respond. 

I felt weird and a bit out of sorts. I assumed it was because I felt I was being put on the spot. I hadn’t intended to share a private story about a celebrity’s home life with a complete stranger.

Again the Dad reassured me it was ok and that he was curious too about what I had to say. I muttered something about not wanting to reveal personal things to a stranger and he said, “Oh I’m sorry I thought you knew her. L.B., this is Dolly, Dolly, this is the kids’ favorite sitter L.B.”

I reached out and shook her hand, starting to say, “it’s nice to meet you” our eyes widened and I pulled back as and electric shock ran up my arm. “I’m sorry,” I apologized, embarrassed, “I’m always zapping things. Not sure why, wish I could blame the time of year, but it happens all the time. Probably why my hair is so messy” I joked awkwardly.

I felt self conscious. She was casual in a white t-shirt and jeans. I could tell she had time and money to put into her appearance. Her look was understated yet impeccable and she held herself with grace and confidence.

The Dad got called away upstairs by his wife.

Trying to change the subject I asked if Dolly was her given name or just a nickname. She laughed, realizing I didn’t recognize her and told me yes it’s was the name her Mama gave her and asked me if  L.B. (pronounced Libi) was my given name. I told her no, it’s just my nickname I never grew out of, but I like it especially since I had been told it means “my heart” in Aramaic.

Having the Father’s permission to tell a personal story I chose to tell Dolly about the first time I kid sat for them. As the parents were getting ready to leave, one of the kids was having a hard time. The kid was tired and getting frustrated with a toy and on the verge of a complete meltdown, the Mom, who had been busy getting ready to go to an award show where she was presenting sat down on the floor in her gown and was completely present with her child and guided the kid with such love and patience back into a state of calmness by simply being there, holding the child and guiding the kid through deep breathing techniques in sync with the kid, holding them safe and close with such love until the fit passed. And the kid reacted with immediate trust and love, and through frustrated tears followed the mother’s guidance to an almost immediate peaceful resolution. 

I told Dolly it was so beautiful I knew in that moment this was a special family who deeply love their offspring and are excellent role models and guides. They are celebrities but their children will never be neglected or spoiled because they know and teach their kids that trustworthy relationships and communication are the most important things in life. Family comes first, it is more important than the glitz and glamour of wealth and celebrity.

We stood for a moment in silence watching the kids. 

Breaking the silence, and now curious about this woman who the Dad trusted me to tell a personal story to, I asked if the lady helping the kids was her assistant.

Looking at me with surprise, Dolly said, “You can see her too?”

I didn’t have time to respond. As she uttered the words suddenly my head snapped up and back. I felt like a great force was pushing me back. I was standing in front of the kitchen sink and gripped the counter as if I were in a giant wind tunnel. My ears rang and my body pulsed with an ear pressure cracking “AUM AUM AUM” type buzz or drum roll. I felt like I was standing in front of a speeding train waiting for impact as I felt my consciousness slipping away.

And just as suddenly as it happened it was over. Breathless I still held the counter as if my life depended on it. Startled, I felt Dolly grab my left arm in a death grip. 

“Did you feel that?” She asked.

I looked over at her. She was staring at me, obviously shaken but with a new brightness in her eye. She stared at me intently with such interest.

Shaking and still unable to let go of the counter I tried to laugh it off, “I thought it was just me. I thought I was going to pass out!” I weakly exclaimed while trying to hold back tears.

Ugh, why is my default always to to start crying? I felt shaky and exhausted. The night hadn’t even begun and I wanted to go home and cry.

Still holding my arm in a vice like grip, she looked deeply into my eyes and said, “people don’t necessarily know this about me but I’m very spiritual. Are you spiritual? That only happens to me when I’m around people who are very strong spiritually.”

Still in shock and still not understanding that I was spending time with and having a very spiritual experience with one of the most famous women in the world I started babbling.

“People have always said I’m an old soul… I’ve been having strange experiences my whole life… I can see auras and read energy… maybe that’s why I’m so good with kids… etc” 

The parents came back into the kitchen, seeing our faces they became concerned and asked if something had happened. Dolly and I silently looked at each other, not sure how to respond. We ended up saying we were fine. Dolly excused herself to the bathroom, the parents went over to the kids checking in that they were on task and aware of the schedule for the rest of the night. 

I continued to stand at the sink trying to catch my breath. When I felt steady enough I wobbled over to the refrigerator and poured myself a glass of orange juice.

The parents came over, and seeing I probably looked pale asked me if I was ok. I said I was fine. They asked what Dolly and I had talked about. I told them. Then they asked if Dolly was ok, she still hadn't returned from the bathroom.

I said I thought she was fine and that she had said something about calling her driver who was taking a long time to get there. They commented that we both looked shaken when they entered the room, and were concerned. I asked if there had been an earthquake. A little alarmed they said they didn’t think there had been an earthquake and quickly took out their phones to check.

No earthquake reported. 

Dolly came back in the room, and said her driver was close and would be there momentarily. She hugged me and said we should stay in touch. She gave me one of her assistant’s email address and said he would make sure to relay any messages from me to her. The email address was for an foundation company and I asked what that meant. She told me about her library/book club foundation for children and I told her how wonderful I thought that was marveling at how they were able to afford to give away so many free books.

They laughed, amused that I still didn’t realize I was talking to the mega star celebrity Dolly Parton Country music queen.

She said I had a nice voice and she could tell I had trained as a singer. I told her the only real training I had was from singing in the church choir and doing musicals with the local community theaters.

She asked me to sing something for her before she left. Embarrassed and knowing my voice wasn’t properly warmed up, I declined not wanting to sing infront of my employers. I was embarrassed talking about my meager singing and acting experience with people who are successfully employed entertainers.

They persisted so I gave in and sang my go to karaoke song, Patsy Cline’s “Crazy.” She seemed impressed that I knew such a classic country song, I told her Patsy Cline’s voice always reminded me of my Mom’s voice and listening to Patsy sing used to comfort me when my Mom would go out of town when I was a kid.

They applauded when I finished singing and seemed sincerely impressed by my voice. Feeling shy I thanked them for their kind words, but insisted I’m not the singer in my family. That my sister trained in Opera and my brother was currently pursuing a career in music.

As Dolly went outside to wait for her driver, she gave me another hug and told me to reach out and stay in touch.

We went back into the kitchen where the family had some monitors for their security cameras and watched as Dolly waited for her car to pull up.

“You really don’t know who you just sang for, do you?”  the Dad asked, gently incredulous.

I shook my head ‘no.’

Turning back to the screens he said, “I hope she doesn’t have to wait long, I hate to leave her alone outside like that.”

“She’s not alone, her assistant is with her, isn’t she?” I asked peering up from where I was playing with the kids.

“She didn’t have an assistant with her.” He said.

I looked at the monitors, “Then who is the lady in the blue dress?” I asked.

Surprised he said, “What lady in a blue dress?”