Gaye Merrill
This woman was like a mother to me during my stay at BYU. She was a mentor, athletic trainer, and more, she was my friend. I spent so much time in the training room with her by my side and she was always encouraging. During practice, I would race her so I could shag the ball before her. When I had a rough day, I would go in to the training room and we would talk. Gaye always knew how to comfort me. When she was in tons of pain and going through chemotherapy last year around this time, we had a long talk. She knew how much pain my back was causing me and she said, "Brooke, I think it's time for you to be done playing volleyball." I wasn't ready to be done. Selfishly, I replied, "Why Gaye? Why do some of us have to go through so much pain?" Little did I know Gaye was putting on a stronger face than I ever could have thought. She passed away about 3 months after this conversation. I never got to tell her how much she meant to me. I never said goodbye.
Lincoln Clifford
"Cliff" has been my chiropractor for the past 4 years while I have been playing at BYU. I have seen him almost every week for the past 4 years and he is always able to relieve some of my back pain, even if its just for a little while. He takes my arrogance and laughs at it. WHat I mean by that is, I know my body. almost TOO well. Every time I go to Clifford, I say something like this, "My SI is out on my left side." haha. He would just laugh and tell me go lay face down, always he same thing. Then there were the times I would come in and say, "Cliff, it's something weird. Different..." Cliff would always figure it out.
Vivian
This is one of the sweetest women I have ever met. Vivian is the BYU Massage Therapist and works at the school about 3 days a week. Her daughter Stephanie comes in with her on Tuesdays and she is wonderful as well. What I love about Vivian is that she is so personable. She wants to know what is wrong but she also has been doing it so long that she explained to me that she needs to loosen up all the muscles around the area in order for the massage to be effective. She has helped me so much. Since I am done playing, I no longer have the privilege of going to see Vivian every week at school. When I went in to visit her last week and told her I was pregnant, she suggested I come to her house to get a massage for really cheap. She gave me a one hour, full body relaxation massage for $20! She's amazing and it felt so good!
I definitely know I would not have been able to play volleyball for as long as I did without these wonderful people in my life. I am so grateful for their support and "magic healing hands".
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