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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — For many people, the flowers left at Dolly Parton's statue were a way to say goodbye and thank you for the music, the memories, and a lifetime spent of giving to others.
Now, those flowers are being given a second life.
Volunteers with Random Acts of Flowers are collecting the tributes left for Parton, carefully rearranging them into new bouquets, and delivering them to people in hospitals and nursing homes in hopes to bring a little Dolly magic to their day.
Each arrangement carries a piece of the person who left it behind.
Megan Dunaway, a member of the nonprofit's board of directors, discussed what each bouquet means. "Each individual bouquet represents one person who either wanted to say thank you or goodbye to Dolly."
Once those flowers are rearranged, that goodbye becomes something else. The bouquets are delivered to someone who may be sitting in a hospital room or a nursing home.
Volunteer Cheryl Sperling has seen firsthand what that small gesture can mean, "When you walk into a patient's room, it is the most exciting thing for them to see that arrangement. They just light up."
For the volunteers, that moment captures something bigger. You don't have to know someone to make them feel loved and that is a lesson Parton spent her life teaching.
Inside Random Acts of Flowers, the work is filled with both sadness and joy. Parton's music played as volunteers laughed, arranged flowers, and turned tributes into something new.
"Everybody is just so excited that they have a little piece of Dolly, too, that they can share with other people," Dunaway said.
The flowers that once marked a goodbye are now becoming a reason for someone else to smile.
The most fitting way to honor Parton, is to take the love she inspired and continue to give it away.