HARRIS DOESN'T RECALL MUCH OF HIS MOTHER, NOR DID HE EVER REALLY THINK MUCH OVER THE FACT, GROWING UP. NOT UNTIL OTHER PEOPLE ASKED QUESTIONS, ANYWAY. THIS IS WHERE HE WOULD COME UP WITH ELABORATE STORIES, THAT SOUNDED MUCH BETTER THAN HIS LIFE REALLY WAS. TALL TALES ABOUT HOW HIS MOTHER WAS OFF IN SOME OTHER COUNTRY, MAKING SURE THAT OTHER LITTLE CHILDREN HAD SOMETHING TO EAT FOR DINNER OR SOMEONE TO SING TO THEM AT NIGHT. HOW SHE WAS OFF BECOMING ONE OF THE LAST ASTRONAUTS THERE WOULD EVER BE, TO GO OUT AND SEE THE MOON FOR HERSELF. A SPY, OVERSEAS, SAVING THE WORLD FROM NUCLEAR WARFARE AND THE UNITED STATES FROM BECOMING SOME WAR ZONE. THE LIST WENT ON AND ON, WHILE HIS FATHER WAS CALLED EACH TIME THAT SOMETHING WENT AWRY FOR YOUNG HARRIS. SOMETHING THAT CAME ACROSS TO HAPPEN MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, AS THE BOY WAS ALWAYS BORED WITH HIS WORK. IT DIDN'T SEEM PRACTICAL, JUST ANNOYING. WHY DO IT IF HE WOULDN'T USE IT LATER IN LIFE OR HE DIDN'T FEEL LIKE HE NEEDED IT NOW? ADD HOW IT WAS TAUGHT. HE WAS VERY HANDS ON, AT A YOUNG AGE. IF SOMETHING WAS BROKEN AROUND THE HOUSE, HE MADE IT HIS OWN GOAL TO FIX IT. APPLIANCES DISAPPEARING, RIGHT ALONG WITH LITTLE HARRIS, FOR HOURS. IT SEEMED LIKE MORE APPROPRIATE HOMEWORK THAN SOME MATH PROBLEMS OR READING.

UPON MAKING IT THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL, HIS FATHER PUSHED FOR MORE. WHETHER IT WAS GETTING RIGHT DOWN TO IT OR GOING BACK TO SCHOOL, HE DIDN'T CARE. BUT HE WAS A MAN NOW, AND HE NEEDED TO CHOOSE SOMETHING TO DO FOR HIMSELF, ON HIS OWN. NO MORE STORIES OR LIES TO MAKE UP. EVEN IF HE HIT THE GROUND RUNNING, HE NEEDED TO GO. A LIFE WAS TO BE HAD, AND EDWARD'S HEALTH WAS DWINDLING. IT WASN'T SOMETHING HE CARED TO ADMIT TO ANYONE, INCLUDING HIS OWN CHILDREN. DOCTOR'S VISITS WERE SOMETHING OF THE PAST. THE SORT THAT LEFT HIM NEVER GOING. DEDUCTIBLES WERE TOO HIGH AND WITHOUT SOMETHING THAT WAS IN NEED OF IMMEDIATE CARE, WHY GO? HEALTH INSURANCE WAS REALLY FOR THE KIDS. IF IT WASN'T BROKE, WHY FIX IT? DOCTORS ONLY THOUGHT THEY KNEW EVERYTHING.

WHILE HARRIS CHOSE TO GO TO SCHOOL, HE STUCK OUT HIS FOUR YEARS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA. ENGINEERING WAS WHAT HE ENJOYED MOST, HANDS ON ASPECTS AND ALL OF THAT. FOUR YEARS OF HIS LIFE THERE, LED HIM TO STRUGGLING TO FIND WORK. NOT BECAUSE THERE WAS NONE TO BE HAD, BUT BECAUSE HARRIS REALLY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HE WANTED. THIS ALL CHANGED, AT LEAST SOMEWHAT, AS THE MAN RECEIVED A CALL. HEADING TO THE HOSPITAL QUICKLY, IT WAS TOO LATE. HIS FATHER HAD SUFFERED A MAJOR HEART ATTACK WHILE OUT WITH RUTH. THERE WAS LITTLE THAT COULD BE SAID OR DONE, EVEN FOR AS FAST AS THEY WERE ABLE TO GET TO HIM. HUGGING HIS SISTER AND EVEN HEARING ABOUT HIS FATHER'S LAST MOMENTS, HE FOUND THAT HE COULDN'T STAY HERE ANYMORE. HE NEEDED TO GO. WITH HIS FATHER GONE, THERE WERE TOO MANY MEMORIES HERE, MOMENTS WITH HIM THAT HE COULDN'T LIVE WITH EVERYDAY. A FRESH START WAS WHAT HE WANTED MOST. WITHIN MONTHS, HE HAD SCOPED OUT A POSITION AND MOVED TO BOSTON.

YEARS LATER, HE MET A WOMAN WHILE WORKING. HE WAS CALLED IN FROM ANOTHER FLOOR TO HELP HER, BECAUSE SHE JUST WASN'T UNDERSTANDING HOW TO HANDLE THE ISSUE OVER THE PHONE. FOR AS MUCH OF OPPOSITES AS THEY WERE, THERE WAS A CONNECTION. HE WAS UNABLE TO GET HER OUT OF HIS HEAD. SHE WAS THE EMBODIMENT OF ALL OF THOSE CHARACTERISTICS HE CARED FOR, WOULD STRIVE TO BE LIKE, AND FAIL HORRIBLY. HITTING IT OFF SO WELL, HE COULDN'T HELP BUT PURSUE HER, WINNING HER OVER WITHOUT REALLY NEEDING TO START. THEY HAD A GOOD HANDFUL OF HAPPY YEARS TOGETHER. TWO IN A RELATIONSHIP, THEN TWO MORE MARRIED. ONCE THEIR DAUGHTER CAME INTO THIS WORLD, EVERYTHING FELT TOO PERFECT. THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT SHOULD HAVE PROBABLY SIGNALED THE END.

AS CASSIE GREW OLDER, THINGS WERE OFF. FIRST TIME PARENTS, THEY WEREN'T EXACTLY IN THE KNOW OF THESE THINGS, BUT EVERYTHING ELSE SEEMED TO FLOW RIGHT. SHE SEEMED SO HAPPY AND HEALTHY. SHE WAS RIGHT ON TARGET, IF NOT AHEAD ON HER MOTOR SKILLS. SPEECH AND LANGUAGE WAS FURTHER BEHIND. IT TOOK A FEW YEARS, BUT REAL QUESTIONS AND SEEING HOW OTHER FRIENDS CHILDREN WERE DOING, LEFT EVEN MORE QUESTIONS. DOCTORS CLAIMED THAT THEY SHOULDN'T WORRY, IT WAS PROBABLY NOTHING MORE THAN A DELAY. TESTING WASN'T DEEMED A NEED THEN, AT LEAST UNTIL SCHOOL CAME INTO PLAY. CERTAIN BEHAVIORS TIPPED OFF TEACHERS AND THEY POINTED AT AUTISM, LEAVING HARRIS AND HIS WIFE TO TURN BACK TO DOCTORS, WHO DID FINALLY TEST HER AND ACTUALLY GAVE THE DIAGNOSIS. BEING FLOORED, THEIR PERFECT LITTLE GIRL WAS NO LONGER AS MUCH. THEY BOTH ARGUED AND FOUGHT OVER THINGS DUE TO THE STRAIN ON HOW THEY NEEDED TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO BETTER SUIT HER NEEDS. VISUALS WERE NEEDED, OVER SIMPLY STATING THINGS. SENSORY ADJUSTMENTS HAD TO BE CREATED, SO THAT SHE HAD A SAFE PLACE TO ALLOW FOR THIS.

MONEY WENT INTO THERAPIES FOR OCCUPATIONAL AND SPEECH AND LANGUAGE OUTSIDE OF THE SCHOOL. PEOPLE TO COME INTO THEIR HOME AND HELP HIS DAUGHTER. IT DRAINED THEIR FUNDS. HARRIS DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO, BUT HE NEEDED HIS DAUGHTER TO BE HAPPY. SHE NEEDED TO LEARN SO MUCH AND ALL OF THESE THINGS WERE SET IN PLACE TO HELP HER HAVE A MORE FULFILLED LIFE. HE MADE TOO MUCH FOR ASSISTANCE TO HAPPEN, YET NOT ENOUGH TO KEEP ALL OF THIS GOING, EVEN WITH HIS WIFE CHOOSING IT WAS BEST TO STAY HOME WITH CASSIE. USING HIS OWN KNOWLEDGE, HE COMMITTED ACTS OF BURGLARY AND ENDED UP CAUGHT.

SPENDING TIME IN PRISON, HE WASN'T TOO HAPPY ABOUT, BUT DID GET RELEASED EARLY DUE TO GOOD BEHAVIOR. NOW DIVORCED, WITHOUT A JOB, OR EVEN VISITATION RIGHTS TO HIS LITTLE GIRL, HE WAS AT HIS WITS END. TEMPTATION NEARLY LED HIM BACK INTO PLAYING A PART IN THIEVERY, SIMPLY BECAUSE HE WANTED TO SEE HIS DAUGHTER. NO ONE WANTED TO GIVE AN EX-CON A CHANCE, OR THAT WAS AS FAR AS HE CONTINUED TO FIND OUT FOR HIMSELF. EVENTUALLY, HE DID FIND SOMEONE, IN NED HOWARD. FREEDOM, THIS LAST YEAR HAS BEEN FICKLE, BUT HE'S FINALLY SEEN THE SWEETNESS TO IT. MUCH MORE WORTH IT WHEN HE GETS A SMILE OUT OF HIS LITTLE GIRL.