The power of “thank you.”

TOLEDO, Ohio — Admittedly, the story I’m about to tell you has a closeness to it. The news value of “proximity,” in an unfortunate way, struck with this story — but I promise there’s a cool ending to it.

I’d like you to meet Kristy Gerlett: California native, former Texas resident, local news reporter, dog mom, and friend.

If you’re lucky enough to be a resident of Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan, you may have remembered her time on our airwaves, after a previous stint in Texas.

As someone who’s been there on people’s worst days, she had thought she knew the feeling of loss — but what she experienced personally — gave her a whole new outlook.

“When she called out for me and I found her in the bathroom and she was sweating and she said it was hard to breathe, I figured, maybe, she was having another heart attack.”

“I tried to get the iPad for the nurse and I couldn’t get it to work, and so, that’s when I called 911.”

“The three firefighters came in and they walked down the hallway, they were talking to my mom, my mom was still very aware and talking, she had collapsed on the floor at that time, so I grabbed the office chair in the office.”

“And the heart monitor was showing her heart rhythm, and I was talking to her, they were talking to her, and then — like that.”

Cathy Gerlett, a supportive and, when needed, blunt mother — as I recall from the hilarious dinner I got to partake in with her and Kristy — had passed away. The scene played out in February of 2023 in Kristy’s apartment, a space that had hosted so many mother-daughter moments that past year, after Cathy drove cross-country to spend time with her star daughter.

“She started to be more consistent, staying here full-time once I started working at channel 11. She really, really wanted me to take the job with them.”

“I could be on, like, a promo for 15 seconds or a headline, and she was, like, my biggest fan. And so I would definitely say that the last, you know, year and a half I had with her was the best of our relationship.”

But as the days went on, the emptiness weighed heavy on Kristy’s mind. She recalls the visit she received from a friend, which began with her laying in the same spot her mother took her last breaths.

“She went to lay with me, but she was like, ‘Can we open a window? Can we get some air?’ I am in a much different place than that, you can overcome that; I’ve just learned to live with those images — they’re never going to leave me.”

But in those immediate, tough moments, there were other things — or should I say people — that didn’t leave her.

“Even now, when I look back and I think about that moment of just how calm and quiet they were — opposed to me who was just screaming and banging and on the floor, off the floor — they just weren’t distracted.”

With her memory of their professionalism still intact, it became Kristy’s mission to meet them under calmer circumstances, and thank them — but that wasn’t without hesitancy, as Kristy has had trouble overcoming the embarrassment of the very human response she felt. And as it turns out, it was something the brave crew she officially met for the first time was used to.

Forever bonded from a call over a year ago that, due to their compassion, earned them gratitude and showed them the power behind the words “thank you.”