“This past week was very sad for me. You would have guessed by now that I’m a serious Beatles fan, and a Connie Francis fan secondarily, but another part of me was the happy-go-luckiest little girl from ‘round the town. When I was in first grade, I recalled listening to some traditional country music on 45s that didn’t sound like dubstep. That gave me a special opportunity to participate in a school wide talent contest. I won fifth place. Sure, I was taught about, lemme see now… Calamity Jane, Gene Autry, Johnny Cash, that whats-her-name who sang ‘Harper Valley PTA’, Bobbie Gentry, Kenny Rogers, and, **sighs** Dolly Parton.”
“That last name I’ve already mentioned… I am crying streams of tears just as I’m streaming to Dolly’s joyful noise. Her warm and cheery melodies — pardon the expression — made me feel like the happiest girl in the USA. It was highly emotional at a time when she gracefully left this earth as I am sitting here at my desk doing homework, reminiscing and thinking of how there could be one and only one Dolly Parton in the whole universe.”
“This is one of my favorite Dolly tunes. Have a listen and have a smile…”
“As I entered a second week of the new school year, the art teacher Miss Bell gave us an assignment to illustrate a famous person that I really loved and admired, and to be shared with the class on Friday. Who knows if there are kids my age who’s ever heard or listened to Dolly Parton, that homegrown Southern country voice only their grandparents would fully understand. I think today’s kids are really into this Alabama cowgirl who goes by the stage name ‘Ella Langley’, but Dolly was so much larger than life than writing and performing everything she did by the thousands.”
“Friday arrives, it’s fifth period, and I get to present my prize-winning artwork in front of 31 other kids. Needless to say, almost a third of them had drawn their own versions of Dolly Parton, with all of them looking like absolute rushjobs. It looks like no one took the time to think inspiration over perspiration. Two of them drew preschool level caricatures of Dolly on notebook paper — they both got zero’ed because Miss Bell thought they were totally unacceptable. The rest of the class drew their own interpretations of content creators and social media influencers, and not even the art teacher could tell the difference between Dhar Mann and an everyday Average Joe. Me included!”
“When I was called up to present my version of Dolly Parton, it caught the eyes of the entire class. I wanted to show everyone how much appreciation I had for her by slapping on coats of many colors on the canvas, and Miss Bell was very proud, too. She graded my artwork an A-minus, saying that while it was a little bit sketchy, it had a true sense of spirit. The kids say I’m alright.”
“Godspeed, Dolly. May your Southern spirit forever shine!”
* DISCLAIMER – ‘Melody’ is a cartoon girl crafted by an actual human being using digital technology and created for entertainment value.
All Drawings Created By J. ATWOOD. ©️2026.
** Check out Melody’s INSTAGRAM page for more images and fun! **
The MELODY Page 
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