@rameyfamily.4

Honestly, he had the right reaction.

Over the weekend, less than two weeks after her husband of almost 60 years Carl Dean passed away in Nashville at the age of 82, Dolly Parton was seen visiting her theme park in Sevierville, Tennessee, at Dollywood, marking her first public appearance since she lost the love of her life.

She was at the park to perform “Celebrate the Dreamer In You” at the 40th grand opening of Dollywood, in addition to talking with the crowd at the show and also participating in the Dollywood parade, waving to tons of fans outside too. She seemed to be in good spirits, especially considering all she’s been through lately, and she had her signature Dolly humor on display when talking with the crowd during a Q&A session.

But one of the highlights had to be during the big parade, where Dolly rode through the park on a beautiful carriage, and thousands of fans gathered around to catch a glimpse of the country queen in the flesh.

While everyone was obviously excited, no one was more thrilled to see Dolly than this eight year old little boy who was visiting with his parents, and absolutely lost his mind when she came by. He just kept screaming, “Oh my God! Ahh!” over and over, truly in awe at what he was seeing. When she got closer, Dolly of course noticed him, and waved and laughed as he just continued to “crash out,” as the kids are saying these days.

His mom shared the adorable video on TikTok, and it now has millions and millions of views:

The comments section agreed that he had the right reaction, and most would feel the same exact way about his experience:

“Honestly everybody else under reacting.”

“Not her pointing and laughing at him crashing out”

“Honestly everyone should be matching his energy it’s DOLLY PARTON!!!”

“Same buddy…… same.”

“Her pointing and laughing at him made my day.”

“Mind you this is the only appropriate reaction to seeing Ms. Parton 10 feet away from you.”

“Listen I’m 26 and I think he’s the only one acting appropriately to Dolly acknowledging him.”

“If Dolly Parton acknowledged my existence you best believe I’d be screaming too.”

“The only valid reaction tbh.”

“I’m glad he didn’t freak out lol.”

“I can’t believe he kept his cool.”

“And he’s so real for that.”

“SAME KIDDO! SAME! If I EVER get the chance. I’ll act the exact same way.”

“Love the way she immediately noticed him in the crowd.”

“Completely valid reaction to seeing Dolly Parton irl.”

“She just lost her hubby so I’m sure she needed a good honest laugh.”

“What’s important is that he stayed completely calm.”

“Me if Dolly pointed at me.”

“I feel like he is the only one responding appropriately. Is this not how you act seeing a goddess in the flesh??!!”

“In all fairness, how else was he supposed to react.”

Like one of the above comments said, I’m sure Dolly could use a good laugh right now, and that is just pure and simple joy, so I’m sure she got a kick out of it.

Dolly put out a touching new song last week in Carl’s honor called “If You Hadn’t Been There,” which is a beautiful tribute to her late husband you can listen to here: