Rebecca Ann Seaver is grieving the loss of her aunt Dolly Parton while continuing a road trip she had started with her son, Leroy, before the country music icon died at 80.
Seaver, the daughter of Parton’s sister Cassie, left Nashville for California on August 22, three days before Parton’s death. Sharing photos from the journey on Instagram Friday, she said the trip had taken on a different meaning.
“We didn’t know what the week held for us, but we know now that our angels had a plan all along,” she wrote.
Seaver revealed that she had recently celebrated her birthday with Parton, marking their final time together. “What we didn’t know then was that it would be the last time,” she said.
Despite being away from Nashville when Parton died, Seaver said she was grateful she made the trip with Leroy, adding that the road reminded her of her aunt.
“We laughed, we cried, sometimes in the same breath,” she wrote. “The grief and the gratitude rode together in that car, mile after mile, and somehow that was enough.”
