Love Is Particular: Remembering Dolly & Wendell

dolly parton gratitude kasey hitt love wendell berry Sep 04, 2026

“It’s the sharing of our stories that saves us,” my friend and colleague Amy Lyles Wilson, a writing coach, is known for saying.

I’ve been thinking about her words as I’ve read and listened to the stories people have been sharing to honor two beloved storytellers who recently died: Dolly Parton, who died August 25 in Nashville, and Wendell Berry, who died August 31 in Port Royal, Kentucky.

Dolly and Wendell did not just sing or write, but showed us through their lives and actions how love is particular.

It was the love they had for the particular people and places they came from and were committed to that overflowed into the world.

Who are the particular people and places that have shaped you?

What stories would you share? What wisdom has arisen from the places you have lived, loved, left, or returned to?

I wonder if part of what it means to share our stories is to remember that we are shaped by particular people, particular places, particular moments of love and loss and belonging. The wisdom we arrive with in this present moment is intertwined with the stories we have lived.

This is something we invite students to explore at Wisdom Tree Collective. On September 15, I’ll welcome our fifth cohort into The School of Spiritual Direction. Like the cohorts before them, students will be invited to name and share a story about a person and/or place that has impacted them.

Read more of Kasey Hitt's reflection here.

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Love Is Particular: Remembering Dolly & Wendell

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