gaye merrill, athletic trainer extraordinaire and extremely close friend, was my second mother for the duration of my 5 year volleyball career at BYU. she knew me so well she could decipher with just a grimace or even moderately painful expression whether or not i should be practicing on a particular day. and i won't even get started on her pristine tape jobs, i mean the woman is a godess in the world of athletic training. st. theresa reincarnate. and more impressive than her get-em-back-in-the-game rehab programs is her inherent ability to care for the people she ministers to. she rules her training room (garden of eden in my opinion) with an iron fist and contemporaneous open heart. a proverbial mechanic, she puts broken people back together.
so as i sit in my apartment, uncomfortable, pain radiating down my legs, my thoughts turn to her. but more than wanting her to lay those healing hands on me and make the pain go away, i wish we were sitting in her office, feasting on peanut M&M's out of the jar on her desk, laughing and chatting about the day. those treatments were always my favorite kind. i miss you gaye dawg!
7 comments:
So beautiful. Just like Gaye.
That was an AWESOME description of Gaye and it brought back some great memories. I'm so glad you are still playing, I hope your body feels better soon!!
i miss this too. and i miss you.
love you.
Yeah, but she knew more than just your physical pain too. She knew YOU! She knew when you were mad or sad and why. She was and is a wonderful person who I was so grateful for. She really did love and look after you like I would have and I love her for that. Thank you Gaye! You ARE a mother!
I miss Gaye too! Where would we all be without her? So many memories, So many good times.
Erica, I just found your blog--maybe for the second time. Anyway, i love your writing, and your photos. Good luck in Finland!
I just visited Gaye over Thanksgiving. So good to see her and be back in the training room. I love that woman. Awkward seeing the team and more so the coaching staff though. After this season, I will officially not have any real ties with anyone on the team. Sad. But we will always have Gaye!
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