fancy nancy

i have very tender feelings in my heart for the wonderful woman i call mother, and today i had the chance to reflect on the things that make her so great--they are many, but here are just a few.

my mom always used to hold my hand when we crossed any and every street. before we even set foot on the pavement, she had a good grip on my lil' fingers. this continued until i was about 11, and probably only stopped because i refused to be seen holding anyone's hand crossing the street. ("moooom i'm not a baaaby!") in thinking back on this, i have to smile, because i know that she wasn't holding my hand to baby me--she just has a natural instinct to nurture and protect. something as simple as holding my hand to cross a street was her way of saying to me, "i'm here, and i love you."

my mom also always used to make me (and all of her children living at home) do chores and clean my room. every saturday was "good clean" day, where the havoc wreaked during the week (in my room only, because she somehow kept the rest of the house immaculate) had to be rectified before any sort of play could happen. every time, i thought i could outsmart her by shoving everything under my bed, in the closet, under my sister's bed, wherever--every time, she found me out (seeing as how i was the youngest of 7, she'd pretty much seen it all by the time she got to me), and always made me go back and do it right. after living with some roommates who honestly just didn't know how to take care of a living space, i am immensely grateful that my mom taught me how to wield a vacuum, a toilet brush, and those novel little things called hangers.

i've learned some stuff in college, that's not being disputed here. but at the end of the day, the things that i really need to know i learned at home, due in large part to my mom. whether it was her dragging my butt outta bed for early morning scriptures, telling me "no you cannot eat dinner at so-and-so's house because we eat as a family" for the fifty bajillionth time, coming to my 2nd grade play to watch me in my break-out role as a pancreas (digestive system unit), or firmly standing behind me in my good decisions while gently redirecting me after my bad ones, my mom has always tried to teach me what is important in life.

so here i raise my glass to nancy hansen--my mother, my teacher, my friend. i couldn't have asked for anyone better to hold my hand throughout whatever roads i cross in life. i love you.