Cute as a button? No way, she says.
Button button who's got the button? Not Nancie.
My dear sister-in-law Nancie has a fear of buttons. Yes, buttons. It is strange, for sure, but according to my research is not uncommon. Check this out...
(...to continue reading the above article, please click on the link.)
When Nancie was very young and was visiting her grandmother, (who is a lovely woman by the way, I have met her and she is nice), her grandma offered her a tin of old buttons to play with. She ran her fingers through the buttons trying to convince Nancie that they would be fun to play with. Her grandma had several dogs and she had long nails, and when she ran her fingers through those old, dirty buttons, it affected Nancie, and to this day, just the thought of buttons is well, let's just say, sickening.
Nancie will wear button up shirts, but only with an undershirt so that the buttons won't touch her skin. She will button up her boys shirts, but quickly. At church, when Mitch is wearing his suit, she avoids the large buttons on the jacket. She has pointed out to me on several occasions outfits that she hates because of the large buttons.
We have had many discussions about the buttons issue at family gatherings and she is often taunted. Once my mom brought out an old tin of buttons, and tried to get it near Nan, but she quickly diverted and even teared up a little, I mean she is really afraid and disgusted by them. It is a true fear. She asked me to write this post because doing so herself would make her sick to her stomach.
The other day at the pool, she told me about a recent trip to the craft store where she decided to stop and look at the buttons and try to rationalize with herself about this problem she has. She said she told herself, "Nancie, they're just buttons, what is the big deal?" But she came to the same conclusion she has her whole life...
Buttons are gross. And ugly. They are not cute.
Whenever I make a card for Nancie, I make sure NEVER to send her a card with a button on it. That would NOT make her day. Nancie is a wonderful wife, mother, and sister in law. She is really a very normal person who is so much fun to spend time with. We all have fears, mine is spiders, hers is buttons.
P.S. Today is Madeline's 12th birthday. Happy Birthday my beautiful firstborn. I will dedicate a special post to her tomorrow!
