Saturday evening, as I was lying down to go to bed, I received a phone call that no one wants to receive. My family lost a member. My cousin had passed away.

Chastidy Babb was participating in a motorcycle charity ride Saturday afternoon when she lost control of her bike and ended up on the wrong side of the road in a losing battle with oncoming traffic.

When I say Chastidy was a ray of sunshine, I am not speaking lightly. She was known for cheering up anyone she came in contact with and was always looking for the positive spin on any given situation.

She had a love for motorcycles and was always finding an excuse to ride. She would go on group rides, or even take it across the country for vacations. It was definitely a passion that ran deep.

I can remember a few years ago when I went up to Ohio for a family reunion over the Fourth of July holiday and Chastidy came in with a boot on her ankle. I can’t remember what exactly happened to cause the injury, but I do remember that she was not going to let it stop her fun. We played corn hole and kickball and she was not going to let that silly ole boot get in the way.

As I think back on Chastidy’s legacy and the memory she leaves behind I can’t help but think the sun has shined a little brighter this week thanks to Chastidy.

While I’ll miss my random “Good morning beautiful” text messages, I know she will always be looking down on me and shining that positive light into my life.

Jackie Gutknecht is the editor and publisher of The Covington News. She can be reached at jgutknecht@covnews.com or 770-728-1409. Twitter: @jackieg1991