It was love at first sight. Nancy was in preschool. Yet, even at that young age, she knew. Nancy laid her precocious eyes on a magnificent drum set and made up her mind on the spot. She would learn to drum. She did, eventually achieving the status of FIRST drummer in her school’s swing band.

Nancy was like that. She set her mind on things. Her curiosity would open doors and her determination would lead her through them.

“Being curious gives you the option of doing whatever you want,” she pipes up. “I grew up in Brownwood, Texas, and I wanted to know how the rest of the world lived,” she explained.

Being married didn’t interfere with her curiosity. She and her husband lived in or visited almost all the US states and took trips overseas.

Her profession allowed her to settle down anywhere. For nearly 60 years, she was a Registered Nurse in Arizona, Nevada, and Texas. She was the Director of Operating Rooms. She chose one of the only careers—at the time—where women were in charge. She was the boss and she liked it. Perhaps her drumming helped prepare her. There is a precision to good drumming, after all. You are the steady heartbeat. Setting the tempo. Driving the rhythm. Keeping everyone on beat.

Now age 88 and widowed, Nancy takes immense pride in maintaining her independence and living in her own home. It is filled with things she loves. Family photos, crocheted blankets, and tapestries that remind her of her favorite type of music: the Waltz. In the early days of The Broken Spoke, Nancy and her husband were known to cut-a-rug, dancing to modern waltzes like the Texas Two Step and Western Swing.

Not long ago, Nancy suffered a stroke. Her doctor made the mistake of telling her that she’d never walk again. So she made up her mind that she would.

“I believe in two things,” Nancy declares, “the good Lord above and self-determination.”