If Dolly Can Do It, So Can I
I fixed biscuits and sausage gravy this morning for breakfast – not something I typically do at 5:30 a.m. on a weekday. My inspiration was Dolly Parton. Apparently, she likes the dish, too, and even fixes it for her husband, Carl Dean, from time to time – all the while in full dress regalia, make up, wig and high heels. Leastwise, that’s what she said during a Today Show segment.
Me? I slouch into the kitchen most mornings in my sweats, switch on the coffee pot and fix my husband, Jay, a piece of toast with peanut butter and jelly – sans make up and high heels.
Dolly’s doing a lot of good out there in the world these days. She’s a major funder of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. She gives free books to children through her Imagination Library. It mails books to 1.49 million children around the world, according to the organization's website. When wildfires devastated Gatlinburg, Tenn., back in 2016, she stepped up in a big way for folks in her beloved Smoky Mountains by organizing the My People Fund. It provided monthly monetary aid to families and renters whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the fires.
Me? When Covid struck, I went to the grocery store and bought cans of tuna, soup, vegetables and boxes of pasta and cereal and dropped them off at our local interfaith food pantry. Last Friday, I tucked a $20 bill in a Salvation Army Red Kettle when I was out running errands. My husband and I aren’t buying our kids any Christmas presents this year. Don't worry. They’re both adults and lack for nothing, and they support our decision to donate those dollars to help people here in the area we know are hungry.
Of course, Dolly would do much better than what I’ve done, and she has. Still, while I don’t have Dolly’s resources, my hands are open and I will give what I do have – with generosity and an attitude of gratefulness for the opportunity to give. That’s what I’m focused on doing this Christmas, and I hope that’s true for you as well. When we all give a little, it adds up to a lot – blessings our family, friends, neighbors and people throughout this country are so in need of this year.
Biscuits and gravy and the thought of Dolly this morning helped me remember that.
