Carl Dean Introduced Dolly Parton to His Mother on Their 1st Date: ‘She’s the One I’m Going to Marry’
Shortly after Carl Dean met Dolly Parton, he knew he wanted to marry her. He was so certain, in fact, that for their first date, he brought the “Jolene” singer to his mother’s house. He introduced his new beau as “the one I’m going to marry.” Here’s how Parton felt about that.
Dolly Parton wasn’t looking for a boyfriend when she met Carl Dean
Parton had just moved to Nashville when she met her future husband, Dean, at the laundromat just outside her apartment. Even after their first meeting, Dean became adamant about pursuing the “Down From Dover” singer.
“He came to see me every day for the next week,” Parton wrote in her 1994 memoir, Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business. “I was baby-sitting to earn a little money. That meant I couldn’t leave the house, so a real date was out of the question. Still Carl would just come and sit with me at the bottom of the steps next to the Wishy Washy [the laundromat by Parton’s apartment], where I could keep an eye on the little boy.”
Despite the fact that Parton wasn’t looking for love at the time, she found Dean “irresistible.”
Dolly and Carl’s first date
As soon as Parton got a day off from babysitting, she and Dean went on their first real date. Their destination was a surprise.
“Carl picked me up right on time,” she wrote. “He has always been prompt. He has also always been mysterious. He didn’t give me any kind of hint as to where we were going, so I didn’t know how to dress or anything. As we drove along, I was trying to see what part of town we were heading for to get some clue as to what was up.”
The “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” singer was surprised when Dean pulled into the driveway of a house.
“Carl walked me to the door and opened it,” she wrote. “Inside, his mother was just putting supper on the table. Without any other word of introduction Carl said to his mother, ‘Fix this girl a plate. She’s the one I’m going to marry.’ With a nervous laugh I tried to acknowledge that he had made a little joke. But something in his voice told me he hadn’t.”
How the singer felt about Dean’s comment to his mother
Parton felt a combination of emotions all at once: “First, I was shocked that he wanted to marry me, since he had never given me any indication that he cared that much for me. Second, I was astounded. I remember thinking, ‘Who the hell does this guy think he is?’ I felt flattered, outraged, touched, turned on, scared to death, and completely confused.”
But as confused as Parton was, she let the comment slide. She had a good feeling about Dean.
“There I was, feeling as mixed up as a road lizard in a spin dryer, and having to act sociable while trying to keep my dinner down,” she wrote. “I somehow got through the meal and worked things out in my own mind enough to keep seeing Carl.”
