Dolly Parton granted a dying man’s Christmas wish.
Utah resident LeGrand Gold, who grew up in Tennessee just like Parton, has been a big fan of the legendary singer for nearly his entire life.
So when he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2019, he and his wife, Alice Gold, made a “bucket list” of 11 things he wanted to do before he died. One of those wishes was to “meet Dolly Parton.”
“I thought, ‘Well, it’s never going to happen,'” he told KSL-TV of the dream.
Earlier this month, the father of five was told that his cancer was “spreading” and the chemo was “not working anymore” — meaning he didn’t have much time left to do everything on his list.
Fortunately, Parton learned about his wish to meet her and called the Gold family at around 9:30 a.m. on Friday morning.
His wife recorded the call, which started with Parton asking LeGrand how he was feeling and thanking him for being such a loyal fan.
“Hey LG! It’s Dolly P!” the 77-year-old said. “I’ve heard you’ve been a fan of mine for many years and I just wanted to thank you for that.”
After chatting for a while, Parton told LeGrand how thankful she was that they were on the same “journey together in this lifetime.”
“I’m just happy to know that I’ve touched your life in some way. So thank you for honoring me with that,” she continued.
LeGrand and Alice then got the chance to tell Parton how much she means to them.
“You’ve been a huge help, especially these past two years,” LeGrand said into the phone, as his wife gushed about the “many reasons” why they “love” her.
“We love your music, he has loved you his entire life, his family goes to Dollywood — like we have all been season pass holders for like ever — and we love you,” Alice said.
Toward the end of the call, Parton told LeGrand that she “will always love” him before serenading him with a short rendition of “I Will Always Love You,” but she changed the lyrics to “I will always love LG.”
“She sang a song, put my name in the song. I feel like I’m immortal now,” he told the NBC affiliate of the emotional moment.
“It was really cool,” he added. “It made me feel good.”
