I don’t claim to know what happens after we die, other than that life continues. I do believe this, and I have seen and felt much evidence of it.

So, with that in mind, I didn’t want this week to end without saying something about the passing of Dolly Parton. I did not know her, nor do I have any special personal stories to tell. The only thing I have in common with her is that I, too, played Miss Mona in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. I was often told I didn’t look like her. Hah! That’s an understatement!

When I went online and saw the announcement that she had passed, I was stunned. I hadn’t been following any stories about her health. I didn’t even know she was ill. Tears welled up in my eyes. Something beautiful and pure had passed out of a turbulent world filled with so much divisiveness and anger. It felt as though one huge piece of love had been removed.

And then something changed.

Love was enlarged, again and again, as all of us, one after another, filled the internet and time and space with messages, songs, tributes, stories, love notes. Dolly Parton went viral. Love cannot die, and neither can she.

I was walking down the stairs in my home when suddenly my heart exploded with a feeling of so much love. I could not deny that life energy is eternal, or that Dolly’s passing had filled the world with the Cosmic Force of Love. It was her big love moving through all our hearts. It was evident to me that when her energy was released from her body, it continued to fill all time and space. I could explain this through quantum entanglement, but that is unnecessary. Dolly proved it.

So, what does all of that mean for me? I know that I must love a little more today, and from now on. Just love a little more and a little more, and put that love into everything I do.

Thank you, Dolly Parton, for giving the world yourself in every song, every deed, every thought, every word. You left us with something we can truly use in our own lives if we choose. We can live in love instead of in our troubles. They seem so small compared to you. One of my favorite quotes from Ernest Holmes is “Love is a Cosmic Force whose sweep is irresistible.” Dolly, you proved this to be true.

With Love,

Rita Andriello-Feren, Author, Co-Founding Spiritual Director CSL Kaua’i