STAR, Idaho — For the Young family of Star, Dolly Parton was never just a country music star. She was a role model. A constant in their lives. And eventually — a Make-A-Wish dream come true.
Kristi Young said Dolly Parton's music was woven into the family from the very beginning.
"All the kids were born to Dolly Parton music. It was the first sound they ever heard in the world," Kristi said.
Her daughter Faith, now 15, laughed, recalling the detail.
"There was just Dolly Parton playing in the delivery room apparently," Faith said.
"There was!" Kristi said.
Faith said Dolly taught her something she carries with her every day.
"To be kind and treat others respectfully," Faith said.
Kristi said Dolly's outlook on faith and kindness shaped the way their family moves through the world.
"She's taught us to live our faith, but don't make others feel uncomfortable if they, you know, don't maybe share it. Leave the judging the Lord and live your faith," Kristi said.
Inside their Star home, years of memories fill a Dolly Parton scrapbook that Kristi gave Faith as a surprise on her 11th birthday — along with a trip to Dollywood. The first half of the scrapbook is filled with memorabilia the family collected over the years. The second half documents their journey to meet Dolly. Each page tells the story of a family who grew up admiring Dolly's music, kindness, and message. Kristi said Dolly's belief that you can be anything and dream big was another lesson that stuck.
Kristi said Dolly's words carried a particular weight for Faith.
"When Dolly says that you can dream more and you can do anything and you can be anything, those are words that mean something to Faith, like she just took it to heart, like this person's talking to me. Just to me," Kristi said.
In 2022, the family's life changed after Faith was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder. Kristi said the family had spent years believing Faith had cerebral palsy before further testing during her teenage years led to a new diagnosis.
"Faith has a rare genetic disorder, and it's a neuromuscular progressive condition, so it is life-impacting and limiting, and so we qualify for wish through that," Kristi said.
Kristi said qualifying for Make-A-Wish came with complicated emotions.
"You want your child to have everything they ever dreamed of, but the reality of qualifying is pretty hard one," Kristi said.
Through Make-A-Wish, Faith had the opportunity to choose one special experience. The family talked through the options — a puppy, backstage passes for other artists — but one wish stood apart. Dolly was not touring, which meant getting to meet her would require something special.
"What's the one thing you can never do?" Kristi recalled asking her daughter.
"Dolly Parton," Faith said.
The family joined the waitlist and kept busy in the meantime — participating in polar plunge fundraising for Make-A-Wish and staying connected to the community. When the call finally came, it arrived earlier than expected. Kristi said she found out about the wish about two weeks before telling Faith, keeping the secret until the 30-day mark so the family could do a countdown.
Because celebrity wishes do not follow a traditional planning timeline, the family had told their employers upfront that when Dolly called, they would go. Dolly's team kept details tightly guarded — the family did not receive their itinerary until about 30 hours before they were set to meet her.
"They don't tell anyone where Dolly is gonna be at any given moment ever," Kristi said.
Kristi said Dolly was known for keeping her Make-A-Wish visits quiet, not wanting the publicity for herself.
"Dolly always kept it very quiet. She didn't want the PR from Make A Wish. She wanted it to just be the kid. She was famous for saying keep a little bit back for yourself, something her mother had taught her, and so she just wanted that for the kids," Kristi said.
The morning of the meeting, the family enjoyed a breakfast buffet before heading to meet Dolly. When they arrived, Dolly did group wishes so she never had to turn a child down. The Young family was there alongside three other families, each seated at a table with activities while Dolly worked her way around to visit with each family.
When Dolly walked into the room, Kristi said the energy shifted immediately.
"It was a very busy room. And increasing security, increasing and increasing, and then she walks in and all of the air just felt so much lighter. And she said, well, hello there. And her big voice, and immediately it was just joy," Kristi said.
Before the visit, when the family found out the wish was going to be granted, Faith thought of bringing Dolly flowers. They picked up a vase of yellow, pink, and red roses from Star's local Albertson's. Faith explained that yellow and white are Dolly's two favorite colors — yellow makes her happy and white makes her calm.
Faith had one specific hope for the visit — to play her fingernails and sing with Dolly. She got exactly that. Before the trip, the family visited a nail salon so Faith could have her "9 to 5" nail moment ready.
"We got to sing with Dolly because Faith had never been able to see a Dolly Parton concert. She wasn't touring anymore and it was our little private concert," Kristi said.
Kristi said Dolly's kindness extended to every child in the room. At one point, Dolly let a child with visual impairments feel her buttons, pins, and hair.
Faith said the experience confirmed everything she had believed about Dolly.
"When I sang with her, like, there wasn't auto-tune or anything. It was all real voice," Faith said.
Kristi said Dolly was everything the family had hoped she would be.
"Getting to know her through her family and then getting to spend a little time with her and she's everything that you would have ever thought she was. She was very genuine. Everything you saw was 100% real," Kristi said.
The two also talked about the family's Dolly Parton parties — a tradition the Youngs hold whenever there is a Dolly special.
"Like bake Duncan Hines and watch Dolly movies," Faith said.
Dolly asked about the tradition herself during the visit. After the meeting, the family received free tickets to spend the afternoon at Dollywood. The morning after, the feeling of missing her had already set in.
"The next morning we were loading up and we looked at each other and went, I miss her. I wonder what she's doing," Kristi said.
Faith said the experience was everything she had hoped for.
"I was happy. It was magical, and it felt like I was dreaming. Dolly is this magical person that you don't even feel like it's just, you don't even feel like it's actually real," Faith said.
The Young family's connection to Dolly's world extended beyond the Make-A-Wish visit. On Faith's 11th birthday trip to Dollywood, the family met Shelly, Dolly's cousin, who works at the park. Faith was so overwhelmed by being close to Dolly's family that she went nonverbal and sank to the ground. Shelly sat through her entire dinner break waiting for Faith to feel comfortable enough to take a photo. Shelly still stays in touch with the family.
The family left blank pages at the back of the scrapbook — because there is still more to come. Dolly recorded an album set to be released in 2046, when she would have been 100 years old.
"We left blank pages in because there's still hope," Kristi said.
"We are all learning to live in a world without Dolly, but there's still more to come," Kristi said.
When Dolly Parton passed away, the day hit the Young family hard. Kristi said she was at her job when a wave of texts from unrelated groups of people started coming in, all offering condolences. She asked a colleague to check on the news for her rather than read it herself online.
Kristi said she immediately called Faith's school to let them know. The school understood and went tech-free in some classes that afternoon to prevent pop-up ads from catching Faith off guard. Faith's teacher also suggested she change into her volleyball jersey so no one would recognize her Dolly shirt and inadvertently say something before Kristi could tell her in person.
Kristi left work early and worked with the school counselor on the right moment to break the news. It was decided she should be told before the volleyball game rather than risk Faith hearing it elsewhere.
"She was shattered," Kristi said.
Faith said volleyball was the one thing that brought her any happiness that week.
"The only time she saw me happy and smiling was when we won our first two games," Faith said.
Faith's school gave her bereavement leave. That Friday, the family honored Dolly the way she would have wanted — with a Dolly Parton party. This time, they made Duncan Hines blondies with chocolate chips after discovering a new recipe, watched Dolly movies, and set aside time to grieve together.
The family later learned through one of Dolly's nieces that Dolly had been laid to rest that same Friday — the same day the Youngs had taken their bereavement day.
"We set aside time to pray for her family and we were praying for them when they were having their funeral," Kristi said.
The outpouring of support from the Star community brought Faith comfort during those first difficult nights. Kristi said her phone was flooded with messages from people across the community who knew their story.
"That first night when we got home, that was a really rough night and it brought Faith a lot of comfort to read those messages. It was the one thing that really was comforting in those moments," Kristi said.
Kristi said the unity she has witnessed in the wake of Dolly's passing reminded her of something she had not felt in a long time.
"I haven't seen our country, our world this united since 9/11. It doesn't matter what side of the political fence you're on, it doesn't matter whether you're religious or you're part of more liberal communities, it doesn't matter who you are, where you came from," Kristi said.
"We are all learning to live in a world without Dolly together," Kristi said.
"I think it would have brought her a lot of joy to see the world united. She wanted to be remembered for everything that she had done and who she was, and I think we're all doing a really good job of that," Kristi said.
In the end, Kristi said the best memorial anyone could offer is a simple one.
"I think the only thing that Dolly would really love. If she had to put up with all these articles is to be kind to one another. And to carry forth and not to lose the unity that we have found right now," Kristi said.
"I think that would mean more to her than any memorial, if we, if we were just decent people to each other and kept being decent people," Kristi said.
