{"id":8338,"date":"2024-12-16T17:53:35","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T17:53:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/strongermarriages\/?p=8338"},"modified":"2024-12-19T16:41:48","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T16:41:48","slug":"dolly-parton-gives-insight-on-her-nearly-60-year-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/strongermarriages\/2024\/12\/dolly-parton-gives-insight-on-her-nearly-60-year-marriage.html","title":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton Gives Insight on Her Nearly 60 Year Marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kathy Hutchins \/ Shutterstock.com | Inset: dollyparton.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After nearly 60 years of marriage, Dolly Parton knows a thing or two about getting along and making things work. She met her husband<\/a>, Carl Thomas Dean, at a laundromat when she was just 18 years old. Dean was 21. Parton had just moved to Nashville to start her career when she decided to check out her new home. \u201cI was in such a hurry to get here \u2014 and after I’d put my clothes in the machine, I started walkin’ down the street, just lookin’ at my new home, and this guy hollered at me, and I waved. Bein’ from the country, I spoke to everybody. And he came over and, well, it was Carl, my husband,\u201d she recalled to The New York Times<\/em><\/a>. Dean was instantly smitten. \u201cMy first thought was I’m gonna marry that girl,”\u00a0he told ET<\/em><\/a> of their first meeting. “My second thought was, ‘Lord she’s good lookin.’ And that was the day my life began.\u201d The two hit it off and two years later, the couple eloped with just Parton\u2019s mother in attendance. At the time, Parton\u2019s manager advised against her getting married, thinking it would make promoting herself harder. The two have kept a relatively low profile during Parton\u2019s decades-spanning career, with Dean content to let Parton have all the spotlight.<\/p>\n

One aspect that makes their marriage work is humor, according to Parton. \u201cHe\u2019s quiet and I\u2019m loud, and we\u2019re funny. Oh, he\u2019s hilarious. And I think one of the things that\u2019s made it last so long through the years is that we love eachother [and] we respect each other, but we have a lot of fun. Anytime [there\u2019s] too much tension going on, either one of us can like, find a joke about it to really break the tension, where we don\u2019t let it go so far,\u201d she told the \u201cDumb Blonde<\/a>\u201d podcast. She added that the two avoid having arguments. \u201cWe never fought back and forth. And I\u2019m glad now that we never did, because once you start that, that becomes a lifetime thing. I\u2019ve seen it with so many people, and I thought, \u2018I ain\u2019t ever starting that.\u2019 I couldn\u2019t bear to think that he\u2019d say something I couldn\u2019t take\u2026 because I\u2019m a very sensitive person toward other people and myself.\u201d She mentioned Dean attending her award for receiving Song of the Year in 1967, a year after they were wearing. She stated he hated all the attention so much, he vowed to never attend another award show again. \u201cAnd he never did,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Rather than keeping them apart, however, Parton believes their differences have only made them a stronger couple. \u201cThey say that opposites attract, and it’s true,” she said. “We’re completely opposite, but that’s what makes it fun. I never know what he’s gonna say or do. He’s always surprising me,\u201d she told People<\/em><\/a> in 2015. In 2016, they renewed their vows. Now that the couple is older, Parton says she plans to stay closer to home. \u201c”I do not think I will ever tour again. I like to stay a little closer to home with my husband,” she told Pollstar<\/em>. \u201cWe’re getting older now, and I don’t want to be gone for four or five weeks at a time. Something could happen. I would not feel right about that \u2014 if I were gone and somebody needed me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After nearly 60 years of marriage, Dolly Parton knows a thing or two about getting along and making things work. She met her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, at a laundromat when she was just 18 years old. Dean was 21. Parton had just moved to Nashville to start her career when she decided to check…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":627,"featured_media":8365,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrities","category-relationships"],"yoast_head":"\nDolly Parton Gives Insight on Her Nearly 60 Year Marriage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/strongermarriages\/2024\/12\/dolly-parton-gives-insight-on-her-nearly-60-year-marriage.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dolly Parton Gives Insight on Her Nearly 60 Year Marriage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After nearly 60 years of marriage, Dolly Parton knows a thing or two about getting along and making things work. 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