Country music legend Dolly Parton was married to her husband for 60 years, so it's not surprising that she opened up about how hard it is to be without him after his death earlier this year.
According to Fox News, Parton recently reflected on her life with Carl Dean on "Today," and became emotional when she opened up about the difficulties she's experienced in the wake of his passing.
Parton, now 79, held nothing back as she reminisced on her life with Dean, whom she met at 18 and fell in love with quickly.
The Nashville legend admitted that she's "fine" but has to learn how to adjust to new habits and routines now that Dean is gone. He died in March of this year, shocking the country music world.
Parton admitted that she -- understandably -- gets emotional when people bring up Dean's death, but manages to work through it and remember what they had.
"Oh, you know what, I get very emotional when people bring it up," Parton shared as she teared up. "But we were together 60 years. I’ve loved him since I was 18 years old."
She also revealed that she misses him dearly and praised him for being a wonderful husband and partner, especially throughout what one could only imagine to be an extremely hectic -- and successful -- music career.
"It’s a big adjustment just trying to change patterns and habits," Parton continued. "I’ll do fine, and I’m very involved in my work and that’s been the best thing that could happen to me."
She added, "But I’ll always miss him, of course, and always love him. He was a great partner to me."
Fox News noted:
The 10-time Grammy winner went on to express her gratitude for the love and support that she had received in the wake of Dean's death.
"I’m so thankful. I’ve gotten so many cards, letters, flowers, from all over the world," Parton said. "I had no idea Carl Dean was so famous," she joked of her spouse.
Carl Dean might have been married to one of the most recognizable and popular people in the world, but chose to stay far out of the public spotlight.
"My career being separate from my marriage is perfectly natural for us," she said during a 1977 interview. "We like it that way. It’s too right and too natural and too comfortable and too secure for it to ever be anything else."
Dean rarely gave interviews to the press, but when he did, he always spoke highly of his talented wife.
The two met at a laundromat in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1964, and married two years later. The rest was history.
