Dolly Parton Revealed the 1 Person She Could Spend All Her Time With
Dolly Parton is married and close with her family members, but she said that there’s only one person with whom she could spend all her time. When Parton was in school, she met Judy Ogle. The pair connected immediately, forming what would become a lifetime friendship. Parton shared why their relationship was such a close one.
Dolly Parton said she could spend all her time with one person
One of Parton’s closest allies in life is Ogle. After attending school together, Ogle joined Parton on the road. She managed her affairs and provided Parton with company on long tours.
“I have other friends that are very dear and close to me, but there’s nobody like Judy,” Parton said in the book Dolly by Alanna Nash. “She knows everything that it’s humanly possible to know about me.”
Their relationship was so close that some people speculated that they were lovers. Parton denied this, but she acknowledged that they had an unusually strong bond. Ogle even lived with her and her husband.
“We never have arguments,” Parton said. “She is the only person in this world that I could be with twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred sixty-five days a year, and never even be aware of the fact that there was any sort of clash. And we never get bored.”
Parton appreciated having someone in her life who could read her so well.
“She knows what I’m thinkin’. She knows the way I look, the way I move,” she said. “I know the way she looks and the way she moves, too, and I know if she’s hurt over somethin’. Not nothin’ I do, but I mean her family’s so large and there’s many personal problems and things like that. Friendship is a true gift from God, and that’s the way I accept it. That’s the way she accepts it.”
Dolly Parton said it’s difficult for the average person to understand their friendship
While speaking about the rumors regarding her relationship with Ogle, Parton said she knew people misunderstood the friendship. She could understand why people might misinterpret their closeness. It was hard to understand if you weren’t a part of the friendship.
“Mine and Judy’s relationship is a relationship of its own kind,” she said. “It’s hard to explain. I have many relationships of that nature. Because if I love you, I’m always there. If I’ve loved you once, I’ll always love you. But with me’n Judy, it’s a rare thing to see people care that much about each other. I can certainly see where that would be misunderstood.”
She denied that their relationship was anything but platonic, though.
“You grow up like that, you never forget the fact that you were children together,” she said. “So now, I’m sure it’s real hard for most people to understand two grown women bein’ playful and joyful, and to laugh and hug and be excited about things — jumpin’ up and down when somethin’ good is happenin’, knowin’ the thrill of excitement, or to hug each other when you’ve been gone on a long trip. But I hug my sisters, and I hug my mother and my daddy, and Judy is like a part of my family. She’s like another part of me. And there is nothin’ but beauty in my relationship with Judy.”
The friends went through a rocky patch
While Parton said she and Ogle never fought, they went through at least one rough patch. Ogle threw herself into assisting Parton, and she began to take the challenges of her job to heart.
“Judy’s a very quiet, very intelligent, soft-spoken girl, who just basically does her job and keeps everything inside,” Parton’s guitarist Don Roth said. “She worries a lot about Dolly when Dolly’s having a bad time of it on the road, as happens to stars when things get too busy or too hectic. And Judy would take it all personally. And too seriously.”
Parton gently fired Ogle, believing it was all becoming too much for her.
“I think she was really run-down, and Dolly just finally said, ‘Judy, you’re my friend, and the best thing is for you to quit the road,’” Roth said. “It was the best thing Dolly could do for Judy, in Dolly’s estimation. I haven’t seen Judy since. She sent her home.”
According to another guitarist, Tom Rutledge, the two friends went for a time without speaking, but they were able to return to the friendship.
