Dolly Parton said she feels “at peace” with her husband Carl Dean’s passing two weeks after his death.
“I’m doing better than I thought I would,” Parton told Knox News at the 40th opening ceremony of her Pigeon Forge, Tenn., theme park, Dollywood.
“I’ve been with him 60 years. So, I’m going to have to relearn some of the things that we’ve done. But I’ll keep him always close,” she added, referencing Dean.
The “Jolene” singer, 79, explained that she’s “at peace that he’s at peace,” but that does “not keep [her] from missing him and loving him.”
“It’s a hole in my heart, you know, but we’ll fill that up with good stuff and he’ll still always be with me,” she said positively.
While speaking with Knox News, the “I Will Always Love You” songstress revealed that Dean had “suffered a great deal” before his death. However, she didn’t specify if he had any ailments.
Parton also reflected on how Dean used to come to her theme park for solo inconspicuous outings.
“He used to come to the park; he bought his own ticket –– stood in line and got his ticket,” she recalled. “He didn’t want somebody giving him a ticket ‘cause he was Dolly’s husband. Everybody thinks that’s the funniest thing.”
Dollywood’s 40th opening ceremony is the first public event Parton has attended since announcing that her husband of almost 60 years died on March 3 at the age of 82.
The Grammy winner briefly addressed the crowd after strolling around in a pink carriage and receiving dozens of flowers and sympathy cards.
“I will always love him, and I miss him,” she told parkgoers, per Knox News. “You know how I loved him and he would want me to be working today. I expect to be working.”
Parton added that she’s been “crying enough the last week or two,” so she needed to come to the opening to “laugh” and to have “some fun.”
The “9 to 5” singer recently honored her late husband by releasing “If You Hadn’t Been There.”
“I fell in love with Carl Dean when I was 18 years old,” she announced via social media on March 7. “We have spent 60 precious and meaningful years together. Like all great love stories, they never end. They live on in memory and song. He will always be the star of my life story, and I dedicate this song to him.”
The couple, who tied the knot in 1966, famously kept their relationship private.
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