I have been a mess since hearing about Dolly’s passing 😥💔She has always felt like an aunt to me, even though I never met her. There was something so magical and comforting about her. She seemed to carry this enormous light with her wherever she went.

I’ve been trying to find the words to say something about her, but, I’m too sad to try to be clever right now. And everything I write seems so pale compared to all of her colors.

But maybe I don’t need the perfect words.

Dolly knew she belonged on a stage. She knew it as a little girl, long before the world knew her name. And I understand that feeling in a way I can’t quite explain. I knew it too as a little girl.

That might be one of the things I will carry with me most from her, not just her songs, but the permission to be exactly who you are, to dream ridiculously big, to be tender and funny and sparkly and strong, and to keep showing up with your heart wide open.

Thank you, Dolly. For the songs. For the laughter. For the comfort. For showing generations of little girls that there was room for them on the stage, too. I never met you, but somehow you felt like family.

Rest easy, Aunt Dolly. 💗🦋✨