PLEA ENDS WITH NICE RING TO IT.

Byline: VINCENT BONSIGNORE

It wasn't so much of a promise as it was a plea. Nicole Gaskins could see all the bills adding up from her battle with cancer, and the last thing she wanted was for her husband, Brady Mertes, to be stuck with mounting debt.

So, before she died Dec. 18, Gaskins told Mertes to do whatever he had to do to offset the rising costs. Even if it meant selling her wedding ring back to the jeweler.

Mertes, a former basketball standout at Chatsworth High and Cal State Northridge and now a teacher at Sylmar High, pauses for a moment as he tells a friend of Gaskins' wishes.

Then he catches himself, thinking back to the day he proposed to Gaskins, a former track standout at UCLA.

``It was Feb. 14, her birthday. And Valentine's Day,'' Mertes said, smiling. ``And it was also the one-year anniversary of our first date. I figured with all that going for me, no way I'll ever forget that date, right?''

It was also just a few months after Gaskins was told she had one year to live after being diagnosed with adrenal cortical carcinoma - a rare cancer that starts in adrenal glands, just above the kidneys - and shortly after she underwent surgery to remove a 10-pound tumor and her right kidney. At a time some people would have run away, Mertes stuck around.

``I'll never forget that day,'' said Jessica Marr, Gaskins' UCLA track teammate and roommate. ``The surgery had really taken a toll on her. She wasn't feeling well, her body was changing. I mean, at a time when any girl would feel the most unpretty possible, she walks out of the shower, and there's Brady getting on his knee and proposing to her.

``People talk about true love, things like that. But what Brady had for Nicole, and how she felt for him, that's true love.''

It never occurred to Mertes not to stay with Gaskins after she was diagnosed with cancer. And the thought of not being married to her was one he never considered.

``From very early on in our relationship, I knew this was the girl for me,'' Mertes said. ``I just wanted her to be my wife, even if it was just for the brief time we had left together.''

Gaskins was 22 when she died. The night before she passed, she planned and staged a Christmas dinner party for family and friends, made more than 30 Christmas cards with individual notes for those invited, and entertained guests with an intricate dance routine she memorized for the occasion.

If she thought her time was limited, she didn't let on.

``Typical Nicole,'' Marr said. ``It was like something right out of a Martha Stewart show.''

Kelly Grimes, a former UCLA track standout, was a guest that night.

``And looking back, I feel blessed that I was,'' Grimes said. ``You really had to be there to know what I'm talking about. She was the life of the party. She cooked, she was telling stories and laughing. And that dance she did. It was unbelievable. That's a night I'll always remember.''

Gaskins' best event in track was the 400 meters, but her true talent was living life to its fullest. Even after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, she continued pushing forward.

``She did more after being diagnosed than some people do their whole life,'' Grimes said about Gaskins.

Such as being awarded the Charles E. and Sue K. Young Undergraduate Student Award Scholarship, presented by the UCLA College of Letters and Science to undergraduates who have achieved distinction in their studies, demonstrate research potential and are active in their university.

In addition, Gaskins received the Wasserman Scholarship for her study, ``A Study of the Speaking Fundamental Frequency Characteristics and Perceived Characteristics of Black and White Women.''

Gaskins conducted the research herself, and her paper was accepted and published by the Berkeley Linguistic Society.

Seven months before her death, she graduated from UCLA. Her major was communications studies, and she minored in Spanish.

``What always struck me about how was how confident she was,'' Mertes said. ``No matter how she looked, and no matter how she felt because of her situation, she'd still have confidence to get up and talk in front of a crowd or walk right up and talk to somebody. For me, it was an inspiration.''

The day after the Christmas party, Gaskins complained about not feeling well.

``I guess I overdid it last night,'' she told Mertes before laying down to take a nap.

As Gaskins slept, Mertes went to the post office to mail the Christmas cards she made for friends. By the time he returned, Gaskins had slipped into a coma. She died later that day.

``She was at peace with things,'' Mertes said. ``She was surrounded by family and friends that night before, having a blast and partying. It was her time to go, but I take comfort in the fact she enjoyed herself right to the last minute. That meant a lot to me.''

When word got around that Mertes was thinking about selling Nicole's wedding ring back to the jeweler to offset the medical bills, former Chatsworth High basketball coach Fluke Fluker set up a meeting with Mertes and the jeweler.

Mertes was in for quite a surprise.

At that meeting, Fluker handed Mertes a check from the jeweler for the cost of the ring - with one stipulation: Mertes had to promise the jeweler he wouldn't sell the ring.

In addition, Fluker presented Mertes with a letter from friends pledging an impressive amount of money to help their friend pay off his bills.

``Brady collapsed to his knees in tears,'' Fluker said.

As for the ring, the jeweler went one step further, reshaping it into a man's ring so Mertes could wear it for the rest of his life.

``I'm at a loss - I really am,'' Mertes said. ``To have people step up like they have, it's humbling. But I know what they did was just as much for her, if not more so, than me. People loved Nicole.''

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Photo:

Brady Mertes, left, poses with Nicole Gaskins during Gaskins' graduation from UCLA. Gaskins died Dec. 18 of complications from adrenal cortical carcinoma.

Special to the Daily News