nAncY, By Any Other Name

Some folks know her as Nancy, although she tends to sign off as nAncY. Or, more recently, nancy.

I'd write her name in all caps, like this: NANCY, if I thought it would bring her the attention she deserves and never seeks.

nAncY has a place I make a point to visit every day, or as often as possible. The place is called just say the word. You can find it here, if you're so inclined. If you go there often enough, you will, as nAncY promises, "get to know me, as I am continuing to get to know myself and God." You'll get to know her words, which she just says straight out, without the judgments or flourishes she'd make if she used a font like this or this or this.

You'll also get to know her as one who lives the Word every day: in the photos — of people, places, things — she takes or otherwise uses to dress up her beautifully designed blog to our delight. In the wine she makes that I keep hearing about on Twitter and FaceBook (and ought to order from her directly). In her often sweet tweets (@poemsandprayers), which are like amuse-bouche you get in the best restaurants. In her quiet and heart-felt reflections on family. In her poems that are wonderful for their elegance, their simplicity, their whimsy, their honesty, their depth of feeling. In the way she always responds gratefully and gracefully to comments on her blog. In the way she leaves comments for us to find and consider.

nAncY inspires, keeps us thinking. She's wise in the way that a person who knows about loving and losing and working hard is wise. She's also funny, refreshing.

So, let's settle this: Nancy nancy nAncY can write her name however she wants. She is so much more than a name or a bunch of leTtErs and punctuation marks.

* * * * * * * *

Visiting nAncY's on Wednesday

stopping by

she stops me;

well, not just me

but everybody

who dropped in.

see, she had a gift

for all of us

(it was unexpected),

and it was what

most people

would agree is

important enough

to take a minute

or maybe two for.

thanks, she said,

and praise God,

she said,

and for well more

than a minute,

I felt like

she was talking

to me alone,

so much love

there was

in that thanking

and praising.

_________________

Our friend Glynn honored nAncY yesterday in a tender and delicious tribute.

At High Calling Blogs, we're celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas with 12 Days of Community by highlighting the blog(s) or Website(s) of people other than ourselves. As our friend Glynn says, this is something we should be doing anyway, all the other 353 days of the year. This is the sixth piece to appear under the 12 Days of Community badge. The others are:

Day 1: "She Looks for Joy in Now"
Day 2: "Landscape Become Image"
Day 3: "She Listens Multidimensionally"
Day 4: "Four Women, No Calling Birds"
Day 5: "Virginia via Idaho via New York City"