Dolly Parton photo courtesy of Dolly Records.
September 19, 2007 — Weddings are always special occasions, but Dorothy Jo Parton's recent nuptials were particularly meaningful: the 78-year-old cancer survivor was given away by her niece, Dolly Parton.
"Dorothy Jo is very special to me," Dolly told WBIR-TV in Knoxville. "We all gave her away. When they said, 'Who gives this bride,' I said, 'We all do.'"
Dolly was the first to notice the sparks flying between Dorothy and her new husband, Bill. "She said, 'Are you serious about this guy?'" Dorothy recounts, "and I said, 'Well, yeah, I like him,' and she said, 'Well now, if you're really serious, you let me know, and we'll have a wedding.'"
Since Dolly was throwing out wedding ideas, Dorothy had one question. "I said, 'If we are going to have this wedding, are you going to give me away?' She said, 'Yeah.'"
Dorothy Jo says she and Dolly have always been close, but their relationship grew even stronger when Dorothy Jo was diagnosed with cancer.
"We're proud of her, she's been a miracle in this world," Dolly says. "She was very sick a few months ago. They said she wasn't even going to live, and now she's not only going to live, she's going to live well."
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