Twenty years ago, country music legend Dolly Parton faced the most life-changing moment of her life—not on the stage, but in the quiet stillness of a freezing Tennessee night. Known to millions for her golden voice, sparkling personality, and philanthropy, Parton found herself confronting a situation no fame or fortune could have prepared her for.
It was a bitterly cold evening in December, and Dolly was returning from a charity performance in Sevierville when she saw something that stopped her in her tracks. Near the gates of her estate, wrapped in thin blankets and left in a small basket, were two newborn baby girls—twin sisters, abandoned and crying softly into the winter night.