Loretta Lynn Once Revealed a ‘Bowl of Beans’ Was Her Weapon of Choice Against Her Husband: ‘You Can Bet He’d Run’
Theirs was one of the most famous marriages in country music, and Loretta Lynn never hid the fact that relations with her husband, Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn, were rocky at times. They had many fights throughout their decades together. And on one special anniversary, she found a nearby bowl of beans was a sure way to a temporary win.
Loretta Lynn’s friends remembered her anniversary when her husband didn’t
Lynn met Oliver at a pie social when she was a young teenager, and she married him when she was 15 (per People). Throughout their 48-year-marriage, Lynn provided insight into the ups and downs through her songwriting and the books she wrote.
In Me & Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust, Lynn recounted their 15th anniversary and how her friends Patsy Cline and Dottie West brought her lovely gifts. When Cline asked what the couple had planned, Lynn fibbed and told them Oliver had something special in store.
As Lynn recalled, West told her she deserved a nice dinner, and Cline added that was especially true for staying in her marriage as long as she had. Lynn said she laughed at first but began to hope for a gesture of romance from her longtime love.
That night, she placed dinner on the table and waited for Oliver to come home. And when he did, he was dirty from work and unaware of the occasion.
Loretta Lynn said her husband was sure to run if she got ‘good and mad’ when there were beans to be found
Despite numerous other problems in their marriage, Lynn shared that the first time she dumped a bowl of beans on Oliver was on that anniversary. So, it might go without saying that he hadn’t planned anything. Instead, he had forgotten the occasion.
After a tense exchange during which she had a meal in her hand, she instinctively poured it on his head. He was left “covered in beans and juice,” she recalled.
Initially, she wasn’t sure how Oliver would react, especially once their kids started laughing at him. He got up and left, mad and unwashed, and she was “glad to see him go.”
“Now this was the first time I ever dumped a bowl of beans on Doolittle Lynn, but it wouldn’t be the last,” Lynn went on. “They became my weapon of choice. If beans was around when I got good and mad, you can bet he’d run.”
Loretta Lynn said pouring beans on her husband helped get her point across
While some might think covering your spouse in their dinner lacks etiquette, Lynn shared that the action made her point that time.
When Oliver came home the following day still covered in beans, they had a productive conversation about how she didn’t want to have to communicate certain things to him — she wanted him to know instinctively. And their anniversary was one of those occasions.
“Then Doo, dirty shirt, dried bean juice all over him, kissed me,” Lynn recalled. After he took the day off work to spend it at home and take a bath, they reconciled. And a few weeks later, she learned she was pregnant.
Despite the ups and downs of their marriage and raising six children, the couple stayed together until he died in 1996. Notably, she never rewed before her death in 2022.
