A Special Day
Families that have experienced sudden deaths say that for months afterward, the pain is more acute on the day of the week the loved one died.
On another Friday three weeks ago two days after the family belatedly was informed of her murder Martha Lou Harris marked the most somber birthday of her 68 years.
A lifelong religious woman, Mrs. Harris thinks almost constantly about her daughter these days. Ironies provide a leaning post, a vague source of comfort, a place for Mrs. Harriss heart to pause and rest.
A Love That Went Away
One of the first stories the Harris-Bennett family told visitors after Ms. Harriss death was how close the victim and her late father, Pervis Harris, were inextricably bound in happier days.
He, too, died suddenly. Isnt it ironic, asked his widow, that he died in May (of 1999), the same month JoAnn was born?
How ironic also, she added, that JoAnn died in the month that her mother was born.
Small.
Wispy, perhaps.
But those tiny leaves bear memories that even the closest survivors fear eventually will flee.
What Might Have Been
And so Ms. Harriss brother, her sisters, her mother and especially her two best friends sit around and ruminate.
What if? they often wonder.
One of the problems with dying at any age is that unfinished business always seems to be left behind.
In JoAnn Harriss case, the unfinished part lasted the last eight years of her life.
To go back a few years:
Special Circumstances
When JoAnn was born to Martha Lou and Pervis in the mid-1970s, she was in her late 30s, he in his early 40s.
JoAnn was regarded as a special baby because she was the only child of this union and because she was considered a late baby, given the ages of her parents.
JoAnn, or JoJo, as she was called, was her fathers only daughter. In her childhood, neither stone walls nor great distances could not keep them separated.
Father and Daughter, a Team
A smart and successful businessman, Mr. Harris was present and smiling for every important and even the unimportant occasions in his daughters growing-up life.
In many ways, the Harris-Bennett family was and is old-fashioned. The tradition of being Daddys girl was lived out daily in their home, and in JoAnns extracurricular activities.
A Death in the Family
In the spring of 1999, just before her birthday, her Daddy suddenly died.
In his native South, Mr. Harris held a considerable swath of property.
According to his will, ownership was to be directly transferred to his beloved daughter.
More than almost any other desire, Mr. Harris wanted to guarantee that his daughter would be taken care of as well as she was when he was here to guide and influence.
The Will of the Will
Her family says that a major squabble ensued among her fathers kin. The dictates of his will never were fulfilled.
Not an inch of land ever was deeded to JoAnn.
I dont think JoAnn ever got over that, her mother said this week.
