For a man who wasn't there, Merle Haggard was everywhere Sunday at Kern Pioneer Village: His hits on the sound system, his T-shirts on the backs of fans, his essence — his very Merle-ness — palpable at the dedication of the country music icon's boyhood home.
"He’s here in spirit, right here beside me, holding my hand," said an emotional Theresa Haggard, Merle's widow. Wearing a "Mama Tried" black tank, she dried her eyes following a private tour of the restored boxcar home built by her husband's parents, whom she never knew.