In light of losing Sevier County’s dearest Dolly Parton, it’s hard not to contemplate the weight of her legacy. What kind of life do you have to live to send an entire nation into mourning? What was it about her, really? It had to have been more than her rhinestoned dresses and tall blonde hair, deeper than her Tennessee drawl and Appalachian smile, surer than the way she could sing a story to life. It was a quieter tune, like a whisper beneath the lipstick and fame, that persisted, making her death a great loss for us all. Dolly lived a life convinced that one book, one song, one bridge, one day spent loving your neighbor really could make all the difference.
Mountain Laurel Chalets founders, Dot and Ralph Egli, had the same belief–that legacy lives in the ways we choose to love, even when it is not required of us. Whether it was Ralph picking up trash on the side of the highway or Dot spending time at the Boys and Girls club, they knew the most important parts were also the mundane parts. There were no rhinestones or cameras, no acrylic nails or autographs. There were only warm welcomes and long goodbyes. Days spent in flower beds and chatting with strangers on the Gatlinburg trail. They lived quiet lives, but their legacies were loud. They changed Gatlinburg, one friendship, one prayer, one selfless decision, one generous act, one chalet at a time, and we are all better because of it.
We live in the light of legacies left behind; they are built into the fabric of all Gatlinburg is. Whether you see it or not, the legacies of Dolly, Dot, and Ralph are ones that have made this place the one we return to time and time again. Their legacies are in the late night porch conversations, hikes up LeConte, Christmastime traditions, rollercoaster rides, dinner shows, and many other places if you just have the eyes to see. These legacies beg to be carried on, but how? Well, to take a page out of Sevier County’s finest, all it takes is loving whatever is in front of you as best you can and your legacy may just look a lot like theirs.
