When I was a kid, I wanted to be Nancy Duncan when I grew up.
I didn’t want to be LIKE
HER, I wanted to BE her.
She was my hero.
And it is because of her
that I know to call her a hero (and not a heroine).
You see, Nancy Duncan was
the first feminist I ever met.
Of course, I didn’t know
it at the time. It was around 1976,
which would make me 10 years old, and I was smack dab in the middle of the Midwest
in Omaha, Nebraska. Nancy Duncan was my
theatre teacher, my director, and (like I mentioned), my hero.
Everything about her was
perfect in my eyes. Her wavy, messy
hair. Her loud laugh. Her funky, multi-layered clothing. Her smile.
Her genuine way of caring for those around her. Her wit.
And her kindness.
I was just one of hundreds
(thousands?) of kids she taught and directed.
I am sure nothing stood out about me that made me special in her
eyes. But in my eyes, oh in my eyes,
Nancy Duncan was who I wanted to be when I grew up.
Fast forward to 2001. That is the year that I “met” Amelie.
From the moment the lights
went down in the movie theatre, I was enthralled by her. She was everything I wanted to be! I felt some kind of connection to the
character, but when I mentally compared myself to her, I knew I fell very short. Amelie, to me, was perfection.
She was quirky. She was smart. She was funny. She was clever. She was imaginative – oh was she
imaginative. She was attentive. She was beautiful, but not in the traditional
sense. And she lived her life, dull as
though it may seem in other people’s eyes, to the fullest. She filled her life with art and music and
adventure and mystery.
I wanted to be
Amelie when I grew up. Just as when I was
10 and dreaming of being Nancy Duncan when I grew up, I wanted to be Amelie. I didn’t want to be like them, somehow
I wanted to be them.
Fast forward to 2024.
By some strange twist of
fate - I am Amelie. I am Nancy Duncan.
I never grew up – I decided
that I didn’t want to take that path, too much responsibility there.
But I became ME.
A me that incorporates
many traits of my heroes. Yet, is
uniquely ME.
I laugh (a bit too loud at
times, and sometimes at inopportune moments).
I try my hardest to be a
feminist and demonstrate those qualities to the girls who I speak with.
I pay attention to details
– I see and value things that many people miss…
(And yet in doing so, I sometimes miss the big picture, the part that
most people see, which is a-ok with me…)
I love a mystery.
I wear what I want, style
be damned.
I use my imagination and
give it a work-out often.
I am caring.
I am kind.
I am quirky.
And I am happy.
Sure, I have my down
times, and as I have matured I have learned to not only weather through those,
but to take what I can learn from them, too.
I like who I have
become. I am even learning to like the
physical messes that seem to follow me wherever I go.
I am grateful. It takes some people a lifetime to come to
terms with who and what they are, if ever.
I like to think I have lots of years left to explore myself and the
world around me.
Thanks Nancy Duncan. And thanks Amelie.
I am uniquely me, and I love
it.
May we all be the role models those around us need to see.
P.S. - Special thanks to my partner David for surprising me with tickets to see the re-release of "Amelie" on the big screen!
Comments