<p id=”par-1_57″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/dolly-parton/”>Dolly Parton</a> has written countless love <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/music/”>songs</a> in her career, but she said her husband was not all that romantic. They spent over six happy decades together. During this time, Parton said she saw both a romantic and unromantic side to him. She revealed the “priceless” gift he often gave her when he was feeling more romantic.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-dolly-parton-said-her-husband-gave-her-a-touching-gift”>Dolly Parton said her husband gave her a touching gift</h2>
<p id=”par-2_25″>Parton and her husband, Carl Dean, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/dolly-parton-stopped-wedding-mid-ceremony.html/”>married in 1966</a>. Decades after their wedding day, Parton said they still made time for romance when they could.</p>
<p id=”par-3_29″>“My husband and I, we’ve been together 56 years,” Parton told <a target=”_blank” href=”https://people.com/country/dolly-parton-shares-origin-behind-her-biggest-hits-what-keeps-her-54-year-marriage-strong/” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>People</a>. “We still have our little times, like in the springtime when the first yellow daffodils come out.”</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Dolly-1-1-1-1-1.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Dolly Parton wears a yellow dress and holds a microphone. ” class=”wp-image-3786877″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Dolly Parton | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-4_19″>She said he often gave her a bouquet and an accompanying note. It meant a great deal to her.</p>
<p id=”par-5_36″>“Even if there’s still some snow around it, my husband always brings me a bouquet. And he’ll usually write me a little poem,” she said. “Which to me, that’s priceless. That’s like a date in itself.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-dolly-parton-admitted-her-husband-was-not-all-that-romantic”>Dolly Parton admitted her husband was not all that romantic</h2>
<p id=”par-6_17″>While these gifts showed a romantic side to Dean, Parton said he didn’t often act this way.</p>
<p id=”par-7_72″>“Carl is not romantic in the way that some men are. Actually, he’s cheap,” she wrote in her book <em>Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business</em>. “He’s the kind who’ll go to a drugstore on Valentine’s Day and get two boxes of candy. He’ll give one to me without a card and say, ‘Well, here.’ The other one he’ll put in the freezer for next year, just in case he might forget.”</p>
<p id=”par-8_10″>In the early stages of their relationship, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/dolly-parton-used-take-personally-husband-romantic.html/”>this bothered her</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-9_12″>“I used to take this personally,” she wrote. “But I don’t anymore.”</p>
<p id=”par-10_14″>She came to realize that he was romantic, but he wasn’t flashy about it.</p>
<p id=”par-11_58″>“Carl is also the same person who will pick the first spring flowers and put them in a jar and place them in my music room with a little poem written just for me,” she wrote. “And sometimes he’ll write a song or even paint me a picture now and then. These things can make up for anything.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-she-shared-how-they-spend-time-together”>She shared how they spend time together</h2>
<p id=”par-12_25″>Parton spent a good deal of her marriage to Dean on the road, but they always made time for each other when she was home.</p>
<p id=”par-13_66″>“I’ll cook the stuff that I know we love,” she said. “And I pack it up in a picnic basket. And then we’ll go find some riverbank somewhere with our little camper, park, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/dolly-parton-favorite-fast-food.html/”>have a picnic</a>. Or we’ll pull up to some little Days Inn motel, go in as long as the bed’s clean and there’s a bathroom. We just do our little things like that.”</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-2″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Dolly-Parton-husband-3.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”A black and white picture of Dolly Parton standing in front of a microphone with an acoustic guitar.” class=”wp-image-3786304″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Dolly Parton | Richard E. Aaron/Redferns</figcaption></figure>
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<p id=”par-14_15″>While they often liked casual, comfortable dates, Parton sometimes treated them both to something nicer. </p>
<p id=”par-15_69″>“Or I’ll do a candlelight dinner. We don’t make an issue of it. It’s like certain days, you feel a certain way,” she said. “And I’ll say, ‘I’m going to surprise him. And we’re going to have real cloth napkins and real crystal. I’m going to put the real china out instead of the paper plates we usually eat on because we don’t want to have to wash dishes.’”</p>