Dear Dolly Parton, I’ve cheated.

Dear Dolly Parton,

I’ve cheated…

It’s not the kind of cheating that is in a country song.

Nor is it the kind of cheating that keeps me up all night long.

But I must confess I know what I did some months ago was wrong.

Allow me to explain…

Our youngest precious son was named Theodore.

He had wavy, light-blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes that no one could ignore.

And when I’d read books to him, he’d say, “Mama, please, just one more?!”

I remember so clearly…

Driving to the post office to check our mail.

Every time Theodore would say, “Mama! Mama! Can I come? Can I come?” without fail.

And oh, his delight when we would open our P.O. Box and see we’d receive an Imagination  Library book in the mail!

Please bear with me…

As this is extremely hard for me to say…

We lost our precious Theodore in a ranching accident on a cold January Day.

Thank you for asking, but no, I’ll never be “okay”.

But I am sure thankful that Jesus, our Savior, has paved the way.

Here is my confession…

Mrs. Dolly, please forgive me as I never put a stop,

To those books from being sent to our post office box.

I went to the website and nowhere could I find,

“My baby boy has died, but please, may we please keep receiving these books because it gives his siblings and me glimpses of Theo in our mind”

From January of Twenty-Four to March of Twenty-Five,

Your Imagination Library deliveries helped keep memories of Theodore alive.

Thank you, Mrs. Dolly (and team)…

You’ve given us much more than books and songs.

You’ve given us memories that will last a lifetime long.

God bless you!

Vanessa Tachenko

I wrote this letter/peom over 17 months ago. I wish I had been brave enough to share it with the world then. Rest in peace, Dolly. We are one day closer to Jesus.