In 1985, I met a brassy, sassy, oh-so-classy Texas queen named Nancy Guynn. I had just started work at Boulder County, and she worked in the same department. We became friends almost immediately and remained so until her death on Saturday.
At first, we were “just” work friends, (figuratively) hanging out around the water cooler and making each other’s lives better in the rat race of work. We’d have lunch from time to time at Mustard’s Last Stand, but mostly we laughed a lot and got stuff done.
One year, Vic and I went to the Flagstaff House for dinner. I wanted to go, but I didn’t have the self-confidence to pull it off. I’m a Mustard’s gal, not a fancy gal. I confided in Nancy, and the next thing you know, she’s bringing me a beautiful lace shawl, a brooch that was her mother’s and a decoration to go with the baby’s breath in my hair. (It was the 80s. We wore baby’s breath in our hair for special occasions.) She said, “If you look good, no one will be able to tell that you’re scared shitless.”
A couple of years later, Vic, his son, Bryan, and I went to California. We didn’t have much money, so we all stayed in the same motel room almost every night and spent almost all day, every day together. Vic said, “We weathered that pretty well, didn’t we? Maybe we should get married.” (This is literally how he asked me to marry him—as casually as if he were telling me he had scheduled a haircut for Tuesday.)
Nancy was the first person I called.
Before we had a chance to even think about anything, she said, “You’ll get married at our house.” And that was it. Three months later, we did.
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| Nancy and Ken's beautiful house |
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| The wedding from the neighbor's house, showing the lush, green backyard |
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| You may now kiss the bride ... under this lovely pergola |
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| The happy couple |
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| Nancy's Ken, wearing his finest tuxedo shirt. What you can't see is his khaki shorts! Ken was the perfect partner for Nancy. |
Over the years, she and her partner, Ken, hosted us for numerous dinners at their house:
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| This picture—in a frame Nancy gave me—sits in my entryway where I see it every day |
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| There may or may not have been wine at this dinner |
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| No, there definitely was |
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| At the Denver Zoo |
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| Hiking the Mesa Trail |
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| At the Denver Botanic Gardens |
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| With one of the CowParade cows in Denver |
She was there when we bought our first house, where she and Ken planted a tree and a garden for us
Eventually, I left Boulder County for the University of Colorado, and she left Colorado for her home state of Texas. But it didn’t take long for us to head down south to visit her and Ken in their new home town of Austin (as well as the beautiful city of San Antonio).
Nancy was a world-class gift-giver. She gave you things you never knew you always wanted, and they were always elegant and stylish. Every time I show up with this bag or wearing this pashmina, someone tells me how much they love it.
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| This is on our 30th wedding anniversary—which seems fitting, given that we got married at her house |
The pashmina accompanied me to the first wedding I attended after Vic passed away. I hadn’t attended an event alone … and a wedding, of all things. But it felt like Nancy was with me that day as I was enveloped in her pashmina.
One of my favorite gifts she gave me was this box:
She lined the box and covered the lid with wallpaper from the house where we got married—again, her house. I put these two bears in it (a gift from my sister and brother-in-law) and put it where I would see it every day.
Nancy lived a large and full life. She did everything with passion, commitment and excellence. She was a devoted wife to Ken, an adoring dog mom, and a fierce and faithful friend. You hear people say this all the time, but with Nancy, it is 100% true: She was one of a kind. I have never met—nor do I ever expect to meet—anyone like her.
I loved her dearly, and to say I am devastated by her death is an understatement. She meant the world to me.
As always in one of my blog posts, I leave you with more pictures. I wish that they could give you more than a glimpse of how special and wonderful she was.
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| Nancy LOVED her dogs—this is her dear Airedale Terrier Jack |
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| Our last visit to Mustard's, me wearing yet another gift from Nancy— this stunning silk scarf |
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| Nancy loved hanging out in the pool |
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| Nancy knew how to have fun! |
