Dolly Parton is mourning her husband of nearly 60 years while holding tight to their memories and leaning on her Dollywood family.

Parton surprised fans and Dollywood season passholders on March 14 at the opening celebration for the theme park’s 40th season, making her first public appearance since her husband Carl Dean died March 3.

“I will always love him, and I miss him,” Parton told the crowd, also thanking fans for their flowers, cards and well wishes.

It’s tradition for Parton to lead the season’s opening ceremony, but parkgoers would have understood if she had chosen to skip this year’s event. However, Parton wanted to be at Dollywood for the occasion.

“I need to laugh. I need some fun, so I’m probably gonna be stupid. I’ve been crying enough the last week or two,” she said after ignoring the teleprompter several times and cracking jokes while previewing the season with Dollywood President Eugene Naughton.

Parton opened up more about her beloved husband in an interview with Knox News, and reminisced on Dean’s secret Dollywood visits.

Dolly Parton on losing Carl Dean: ‘It’s a hole in my heart’

“I’m doing better than I thought I would,” Parton said, sitting down with Knox News nearly two weeks after losing her husband. “I’ve been with him 60 years. So, I’m going to have to relearn some of the things that we’ve done. But I’ll keep him always close.”

An 18-year-old Parton met Dean in 1964 outside a laundromat on the very first day she moved to Nashville from Sevierville to start a career in country music. The couple secretly wed in 1966 and had no children together.

“I’m at peace that he’s at peace, but that don’t keep me from missing him and loving him,” Parton said, noting that Dean had “suffered a great deal.”

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“It’s a hole in my heart, you know, but we’ll fill that up with good stuff and he’ll still always be with me,” Parton continued.

What is Dolly Parton’s favorite memory of Carl Dean at Dollywood?

Dean was a private man who avoided the spotlight. You never saw him on a red carpet or at a premiere. But you might have spotted him at Dollywood a time or two.

Just without Dolly.

“He used to come to the park; he bought his own ticket – stood in line and got his ticket. He didn’t want somebody giving him a ticket ‘cause he was Dolly’s husband,” Parton recalled. “Everybody thinks that’s the funniest thing.”

Though Parton often appears at Dollywood for work or to see the progress of ongoing projects, Dean never joined her. He only visited the park by himself while she was off somewhere else working.

“He’d come up to East Tennessee to see some of my family and people that he loved of my people. And so, he’d just think, ‘Well, I think I’ll go to Dollywood, check things out,’” Parton said.

Dean would indulge in some of the food, like funnel cake, but like his wife, he wasn’t a big fan of the roller coasters. Instead, he walked around admiring the popular theme park. But he’d always come back with a few suggestions.

“He would say, ‘You need more bathrooms,’” Parton laughed, imitating her late husband’s voice. “Or he would say, ‘You need to tell them this or that. It’s crowded over in that area. You might want to tell them they ought to do this or that.’”

“He wasn’t coming to criticize, but he would notice things and he would say, you might want to bring this to their attention,” she added.

Parton might carry on Dean’s secret trips. “I think I would do like Carl,” Parton told Knox News when asked about her perfect day at Dollywood.

“I would just walk around, look at everything,” she said.