Hundreds of mourners gathered at a memorial service Wednesday at Hendrick Motorsports. Credit: AP

Tragedy affects even the happiest among us

Though I'd only been in her presence a handful of times, it was obvious that Amy Barbee was as sweet as cane sugar and had an equally delicious sense of humor. Part grace, part gusto, and with a dose of each so hefty you wondered how it all fit.

Marty Smith

Amy is an account representative for a Charlotte apparel distributor, deals with cranky retailers all day, every day, but somehow manages to maintain an infectiously upbeat demeanor.

I never once entered her office to a frown, though I often entered wearing one myself. Invariably, I departed feeling better than I had when I arrived.

So to see her so overcome with emotion -- her crystal blue eyes swimming in a wavy layer of tears, not unlike a shiny penny twinkling in a wishing fountain -- was telling.

Like so many others, the Hendrick Motorsports plane crash has stripped her soul.

Among those onboard was pilot Liz Morrison, Amy's dearest friend.

"She was always smiling," Amy told me Wednesday night at a candlelight vigil, held in remembrance of the 10 individuals killed Sunday when an HMS plane crashed outside Martinsville, Va.

"If you met her once you never forgot her, because if your attitude wasn't right, she made it right. She had that quality. She knew no stress."

Example: On her first day at HMS -- a day most folks would make certain to dot all I's, cross all T's, de-wrinkle, tuck in and everything else folks do when on their best behavior -- Morrison sought to spruce up the atmosphere in the hangar by bringing cookies and a bucket of bouncy balls to work.

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By the end of the day, balls were bouncing all over the joint.

"She figured if you can't have fun with bouncy balls, there's something wrong with you," Amy remembered, smiling.

And then, she says, there were the hats.

"She knew how to make everyone feel loved and important. She'd do anything to make you smile. She'd always wear these stupid hats. Didn't matter how bad the deal was, those hats made you laugh. If you look at the pictures of us, we're always wearing those hats. That's her endorsement."

It seems Morrison's co-pilot that fateful day, Richard Tracy, was a perfect match. He was into the hats, too.

Credit: AP

"You had an awesome brother," Robbie Loomis said to Tracy's brother, John, following Wednesday night's service. "Are you crazy like your brother? Man, he was crazy. He'd crack us up, always wearing those crazy hats."

Loomis opened Wednesday's vigil, attended by hundreds of fans, with an emotional, introspective message:

"Not one of us is wise enough to understand the reasons things happen," he said. "We will not get over this, but God will help us through this difficult time and give us the strength we need for each new day.

"I heard something when Adam Petty passed away. At the time I listened to these words, it didn't make much sense. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense: Our saddest day here on Earth is when we lose someone that we love. I believe it's their happiest day, when they get to Heaven."

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Truer words have never been spoken. Yet true as they are, at this moment they are nearly impossible to accept.

Loomis continued by reading a passage from II Timothy, which John Hendrick had been sharing with the Hendrick Bible study group prior to his death in Sunday's crash.

"For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

Loomis then urged the gathering to keep its faith.

"In life, it all boils down to one thing -- love," Loomis said. "We all will love and miss them more than any words can describe."

In times like these there are no words. There is initial shock. There is crushing heartache. It will never fully go away, but with time it will dissipate.

"If you had a tear, she'd fix it," Amy said, teary-eyed, of her best friend.

I pray that time and togetherness will help dry those tears.

Marty Smith is a senior writer for NASCAR.COM. His column appears each Thursday.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.