Well, it just broke my heart when Dolly Parton passed on last week. But I am here to tell you the honest truth (my mama’s version), I could have been her alter ego.
My mama assured me I was destined. I, like Dolly, had blonde hair, bluish green eyes, and an inborn nature to perform. Holding a stiff-bristled hairbrush, I sang with the best of them every Saturday night with the Grand Ole Opry stars like Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, and, yes, Dolly Parton. I would stand on my little handmade wooden box as my stage and “let her rip.”
Our radio station, WKOZ, promoted a show every Saturday afternoon, sponsored by one of the drug stores on our square, and singers were asked to come and sing, on the radio. Well, OK then. Here I go dressed in a little brown skirt with a yellow ruffle, a yellow blouse that my mama made for me (just like Dolly’s coat of many colors), brown suspenders and brown/white saddle shoes. On Saturdays I sang, not with the hairbrush but a real microphone and my little girl voice belting out, “Brush those Tears from your Eyes.” Can you feel the pain and agony my mother endured because there was no talent scout, no fairy Godmother and I never made the Opry.
However, I did use my God-given talents, as I was the minister of music in my home church for nearly 25 years and I feel blessed. Both our sons have great voices and have enjoyed their time in a band, and our daughter has the voice of an angel. They all play piano, guitar and drums. All of them inherited their gifts from me because, bless his heart, my Roy can’t even play or sing along with the radio very well.
We all seem to be so weight conscious, so here is a dessert I make often: Easy.
Sugar-free chocolate chip cake
1 box of sugar-free chocolate cake mix
1 package sugar-free Jello pudding
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
½ cup water
½ cup of chocolate chips.
Mix well and cook in a 9x13 dish at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
