They lyrics to Love Will Find A Way has been rolling around inside my head for the past several days. While the General and I were keeping Samson and Charlotte (2 labs) for Kevin and Andrea, my daughter told me not to mess up their television. Her orders were clear: "Don't start pressing buttons."
I wasn't offended by the cautionary warning. I won't elaborate on all the reasons her request might be justified. I will leave that to your imagination. Consequently, I opted to follow the instruction and limit my exploration to links that became available by pressing the Menu button.
Actually, the first time I pressed the menu button, nothing became available. Not wanting a lecture, I called Kevin. In almost every way, my daughter is my clone. Our personalities are very similar, and our thought processes track the same hardwiring. However, she occasionally reminds me of her mother. She, too, is adept at providing me a lecture. It doesn't happen often, but I'd prefer to forgo the experience.
I decided to play it safe, I chose to stick with Netflix. Not wanting to mess up any series they were watching, I figured I was safe watching documentaries. Some of the current documentaries are not feel-good stories. I have no interest in watching the "Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.
I figured a documentary on Dolly Parton would be enjoyable. I had no idea how many memories would be triggered by the music she sings. I also learned things about Dolly that I didn't know. Take for example that her large family or was dirt poor.
Though it wasn't specifically noted in the movie, Parton was the fourth of twelve children and their family lived in a one-room house in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. The family was musically talented, and they spent a lot of time on the front porch where as a child her make-believe microphone of a tin-can and string gave her the persona of a country western musician.
At the age of eighteen, with her suitcase and guitar in hand she moved to Nashville to fulfill what had been her life-long dream. I also didn't know that Dolly is a prolific songwriter. According to the documentary, her repertoire includes a thousand songs yet to be heard. Another source number her songs at 3,000. Over 450 has been recorded.
Many of her songs are autobiographical. Porter Wagoner once told her it would serve her well to stop writing songs about grandma's skillet and other memories from her childhood and start writing songs about emotions. She took his advice to heart.
Dolly Parton wrote the song, "I will Always Love You" in 1973 for her one-time partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, from whom she was separating professionally after a seven-year partnership.
Almost twenty years later, Whitney Houston brought new life to the song with over 20 million copies sold. Parton also wrote: "Love will find a way." It too, connects with what many of us hold dear.
I recommend the documentary on Netflix. If it triggers and many memories for you as it did for me, you'll find it time well spent.
All My Best!
Don
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