Heidi Parton is grieving and healing through her aunt’s music.
“We love and we miss you, Aunt Dolly,” Heidi said, holding back tears, after singing Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” in DreamSong Theater at Dollywood on Sept. 2.
Moments offstage, while standing underneath a portrait of the Parton family, Heidi shared with Knox News that she’s “hanging in the there” and “doing the best I can” after Dolly died Aug. 25
.“It's a lot, but we're all grieving,” she said, while also acknowledging the world is grieving, too. “It's not any different, just everybody grieves in different ways because she meant something so abundantly to everybody, but individually.”
But in the days since losing her aunt, Heidi has started to connect with Dolly’s songs differently and
is leaning on family.
Seeing the light of a clear blue morning
Heidi leads the “Heidi Parton’s Kin & Friends” show at Dollywood. She has performed, off and on, at the theme park for about 37 years – ever since she was 4 years old. She often performed with her dad Randy, Dolly's late brother, and with Dolly herself.
Now, though, she’s often sharing the Dollywood stage with her cousin Shelley Rená.
“It's nice to be able to share in the grief together as a family because if it was just my friends or something, that's different, but we've been able to share that understanding, so that's been very comforting,” Heidi said of the “privilege” of performing with family doing this time.
Privately, Heidi has also turned to Dolly’s music. She said she’d listened to Dolly’s 1989 “White Limozeen” album probably six times in the past day and a half.
“It's nice to have that sense of therapy in it,” she explained.
Her favorite Dolly song – which had always been “Two Doors Down” – is even shifting with Dolly gone.
“(With) the things that have transpired this year, current situation, I now have a new respect and understanding for her song ‘Light of a Clear Blue Morning,’ she said. “It is such a deeply lyrical song that until this year I did not quite understand and now I do.”
What Heidi Parton wants fans to know
Heidi returned to her Dollywood show Aug. 29 – just four days after Dolly died and one day after the family held a private memorial service in Nashville. “I Will Always Love You” is used to close out one of the acts of the show.
"The feeling, obviously, as you can imagine, had changed and (the song) just meant so much more,” Heidi said of the Aug. 29 performance of the song.
Heidi is proud that she gets to share Dolly’s music on the Dollywood stage. But when talking about her aunt and grief with Knox News, Heidi kept most of her responses brief and poignant.
However, she wanted fans to know one thing: “How much (Dolly) loved them and how appreciative we are.”
Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter. Email devarrick.turner@knoxnews.com.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Dolly Parton’s niece has a new favorite Dolly song after her death
