Paige

Shortly after the success of The Buddy Program, Parton learned in dealing with teachers from the school district that problems in education often begin during first grade when kids are at different developmental levels. That year The Dollywood Foundation paid the salaries for additional teachers assistants in every first grade class for the next 2 years, under the agreement that if the program worked, the school system would effectively adopt and fund the program after the trial period.

During the same period, Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1995: The idea being that children from her rural hometown and low-income families often start school at a disadvantage and as a result, will be unfairly compared to their peers for the rest of their lives, effectively encouraging them not to pursue higher education. The objective of the Imagination library was that every child in Sevier County would receive one book, every month, mailed and addressed to the child, from the day they were born until the day they started kindergarten, 100% free of charge. What began as a hometown initiative now serves children in all 50 states, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, mailing thousands of free books to children around the world monthly.

On March 1, 2018 Parton donated her 100 millionth book at the Library of Congress: a copy of "Coat of Many Colors" dedicated to her father, who never learned to read or write.

Imagine being so fucking stupid that you forgot you turned off the adult content warning pop up—-

They end up with a dozen of the little things strewn all over the house, in pockets, in work bags... Sometimes when they're too tired to really do an activity together, they just slump on the couch and sit next to each other, both quietly click-clacking with whatever is the fidget toy of the day"

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Tommy can't remember a time before he had hobbies involving using his hands, but he certainly doesn't consider himself a 'fidget toy' guy.

"What's this for?" He holds up the small abacus that seems tiny in his huge mitts.

Evan is looking for something else in his rucksack. "Mr Lee — you know, Chimney's sort-of father — gave Jee a bag of old toys and stuff he had given Chimney's friend when he was a kid, and the abacus was fun to play with, making little clicky sounds and you can slide the beads up and down or just run your fingers over them. Made me think of you."

Tommy doesn't know what to make of that. "Thanks?"

"Not that you remind me of an abacus!" Evan quickly corrects himself after extricating a charging cable from the myriad of items. "Just that, you know, you're always doing stuff with your hands, and you're great at math."

It is nice to be thought of. Tommy flicks the little painted beads up and down the rods, wondering how people counted with them, and put them in his jacket pocket.

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When Evan picks him up for their date, he finds a steel puzzle in Evan's cup holder and spends the entirety of the forty-minute ride to the observatory fiddling with it, until he has worked out how to detach the circle from the triangle. Evan is talking the whole time, and Tommy answers, but his fingers constantly manipulate the little toy. When they park, he slips both parts of the puzzle into the cup holder.

The next morning, after Evan has driven home from Tommy's place, Tommy finds the toy in his key tray.

Fix it back, Evan replies when Tommy sends a photo.

He figures it out by lunch, and sends another photo. Evan hearts it.

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And after that, at the start of every date, there is yet another little steel puzzle in the cup holder.

Tommy doesn't let Evan do without. He finds wooden puzzles, blocks that interlock in cunning ways, and the way Evan brightens when he sees the first one in Tommy's cup holder, Tommy will buy as many as are manufactured.

They eventually end up with a box by the door just for these puzzles when Evan moves in. They take one out whenever they want. Sometimes they sit together just manipulating the puzzles while something plays on the TV. Sometimes they take a couple out for long drives. But without actually talking about what they are doing, they always fix their puzzles before they put it back.