At this time of the year, people might need a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas – and Dolly Parton has done just that with the most moving gesture.
Sure, she’s delighted us with some of the funnier side of Christmas – like extravagant hair styles – but she’s also proven that acts of kindness will resonate around the world.
Sticking true to her lifelong commitment to giving back, she’s had fans in floods of tears watching a video shared by a man battling cancer after he received a surprise phone call from the big-hearted country superstar, one of his biggest idols.
Utah resident LeGrand Gold was sadly diagnosed with stage four cancer and his family decided to put together a bucket list to keep his spirits up. On that list – as no doubt many others would have on theirs – was a meeting with the Jolene singer.
Making dreams a reality, LeGrand (who often goes by LG) shared a video of his phone call with Dolly to his personal YouTube account, and people couldn’t be happier for him.
In a video of the call, Dolly greets one of her biggest fans as “LG,” and calls herself “Dolly P.”
As the two chatter, Dolly earnestly thanks him for being a fan. She’s heard saying, “I’m just happy to know that I’ve got a fan that devoted and that I’ve had a chance to watch that journey all these years.”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
“I’m just happy that we got to kind of have our journey together in this lifetime. I always want to make people happy with my music and with the things I do and the things I say and I’m just happy to know that I’ve touched your life in some way. So thank you for honouring me with that.”
LG, meanwhile, tells the 9 to 5 legend that she’s been “a huge help” throughout his cancer battle, and LG’s wife Alice then praises both her music and character, as well as her book gifting program Imagination Library, which Alice says was a help to her children during their tough times.
As they wrap the call, Dolly tells LG she “will always love” him, as a nod to her iconic song (which would later be covered by Whitney Houston) before quipping, “I should’ve sung that, shouldn’t I?”
And, true to her word, she does just that, swapping her famous lyric with, “I will always love LG.”
Cue the tears from everyone watching.
Dolly’s small but significant gesture has given this man the fight he needs. He told the local news station in his hometown, “She sang a song, put my name in the song. I feel like I’m immortal now… That was really cool. It made me feel good.”
“We’ve been flying above the silver lining for days,” she says. “Out of the 11 items [on the bucket list], we thought Dolly would be the impossible, but true to Dolly form, she once again reminds the world that dreams really do come true.”