McKell Merkley

When I first came to BYU I was a confused little freshman that was terrified of Gaye. She held all the power and if she said someone wasn't allowed to work out there was no fighting her about it. For some of the upper-classmen who's bodies were pretty broken it seemed like she controlled their entire careers and was the one who could tell them it was over- can you say scary?!

Looking back that is one of the funniest misconceptions I have ever had! Holy-Moly no one put in more time than Gaye-Bert did. She'd be with us 45 minutes before practice for treatment, sit through our long practices (boring!), and stay for sometimes hours after our practice doing treatment, paper work, or taking us to the doctors. She always did whatever she could to make sure each athlete's career the best it could be- she was our real life guardian angel!

I don't even know where to start when thinking about all the memories Gaye left with us. I narrowed it down to my "Five Favorite Things of Gaye" from the past four years...

1. She put up with a lot of rehab-ridiculousness that I'm not sure anyone else would have. When me and Nat were sick of rehab in the summer, she let us turn it into a relay and her and Pete would listen to our "We've got the blues" songs. She let us wear goggles to the underwater treadmill and reacted surprisingly well when I held a funeral for the knee brace I was suppose to be wearing. She always took the time to switch our rehab sheet every few weeks to keep it challenging and even let us skip bungy-cord runs when she was feeling extra merciful.

2. She put up with a lot of general-ridiculousness that I'm not sure anyone else would have. She let me and Dee hold tryout's for her van (aka Gaye's Cougar Cab) and would never get us lost even when the GPS had no idea what state we were in. When I secretly signed her up for facebook after she told me not to she only made me sit in the cold pool instead of murdering me like she had previously threatened. When we would go visit her at home she would never tell us to go away even though she sees us all the time, but instead would invite us in, offering M&M's or other little treats she knew we couldn't turn down.

3. So supportive of everyone and everything. No one wants to go to Missouri, Penn state, or New Hampshire in the middle of winter but she came with us every time. She let us have a party in her office when we passed our physicals and let me cry in there every time I failed the cybex machine. She always asked about school and family and was always up-to-date on everyone's lives. She bought the Seniors the most beautiful flowers for our last home meet and would go to Zupa's with us if we ever had anything to celebrate.

4. Gaye = FUNNY. She would fool you by being all professional at first, but the more you got to know her the funnier you'd realize she was. She named the big white bag "Shamu" and would joke with us about all the drivers when we were traveling. From her recent Pep Rally performance with the student trainers to the time she embarrassed Sarah Maxfield with pasties and a water bra, Gaye always had something up her sleeve.

5. She's Just All Around Awesome. Gaye was always such a rock for our team. Not only was she the best trainer we ever could have asked for, she was a great mentor and friend to everyone she came in contact with. She was such a great example for us and an amazing model for us to follow in her footsteps. Gaye was never too busy for us and was always available just to talk. She was a great mother figure for all and she'll be so missed.

Love you Gaye, I know you are already busy doing great things up there in Heaven!