Little Mason was only five years old with no father. Her young single parent mother Diana, was always working late nights as a bartender to keep the bills paid. Mason hadn't seen her biological father in months as he would rarely stop by. He was either in or out of rehab, fleeing the state, or in and out of jail. The young feeble minded girl sometimes was left with Greg, the babysitter. Mason's day consisted of waking up, going to Grandma's, coming home to stay with Greg while she watched her mother walk out the door and head to work. Quiet gentle tears would stream down her lonely face as she would sit by the front door for hours and hours until midnight, waiting for her mother to come home. Usually she would fall asleep by the time Diana arrived home from work.

As the days went by along with Mason's usual daily routine, one night Diana decided to bring her new boyfriend home, that she had been dating for a while. He was an electrician and it just so turned out that they had a broken light-switch in their home that needed to be repaired. Mason awoke to the sound of the door opening. Excited as she was, she jumped into her mother's arms and sincerely hugged her. She poked her head up from Diana's shoulder and question who the man standing before her was. Diana explained that his name was Patrick and he was here to fix the broken light-switch. Mason quickly jumped down and approached Patrick. In the most tired yet still adorable voice, she widened her big brown eyes, looked up at him and asked,
"Can you fix my pajama's? They're my favorite ones but I ripped them. My mommy's been saying shes gonna fix it, but she didn't do it yet."
It was a purple silky pajama jump suit with a picture of Jasmin from Disney's Aladdin on the front. There was a purple mesh cape wrapped around the waist, which had a slight rip in the seem. Diana and Patrick giggled as Diana brought Mason to bed.

Months and months passed by as it turned into years. Diana, Patrick and Mason all grew closer and closer ever since Patrick and Diana had gotten married. Mason also became adopted by Patrick so they could be a true family and all have the same last names. This was the start of a new family : The McIntyres. Mason wouldn't spend her lonely nights with Greg anymore, now that she had a father. Patrick and Mason would spend most of their time at the playground, getting ice cream playing board games and just hanging out. What more could a seven year old little girl ask for other than the greatest father in the world? They had such a close relationship that Mason didn't mind spending time away from her mother anymore, now the hard times crying were spent whenever Patrick was away.

More and more years passed and Mason grew into beautiful young woman who had everything she could ever ask for. Once she got into middle school, havoc started to erupt. Her perfect little family wasn't so perfect anymore. She became friends with the wrong crowd and her life started to slowly fall apart without her even noticing. She was skipping school, staying out past curfew, and experimenting with drugs and alcohol. It had gotten to the point where controversies erupted , feuds were fought and C.H.I.N.S were filed by the school and court cases were opened. October of 2006 when Mason was fifteen years old, she attended court with her parents, but didn't leave with them. The court had ordered an out of home placement for her which resulted in her being placed in a group home for several months. Finally, she learned her lesson and was ready to come home and start over. She was released and sent back to her rightful parents in March of 2007.

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When she had arrived home, she had come to find out that it was a disaster-able nightmare. Her parents were nowhere to be found. She tried to call her mother, but no answer. She tried to call her father, but no answer. It just so happened that her mother was out at the bar starting a new habit without evening knowing and her father had moved out. Her parents were divorcing and there was nothing she could do about it. Unanswerable painful questions flooded her mind. Was she the one to blame? Will things ever be normal? Will she ever see her father again? The thought of not having a father to teach her to drive, or walk her down the isle when she gets married, made her cringe. She knelt to the floor in a state of panic as violent tears rivered down her cheeks. She breathlessly repeated over and over again,
"Why is this happening to me? Why is this happening to me? Why is this happening to me?"

Easter day a few weeks later, she had spent time with her father for the first time since she'd been home. She tried to cover up her hurtful eyes with a pleasant smile even though it was driving her crazy. She had so many questions to ask but didn't have the courage to ask. All she wanted to do was play it out in her mind that this wasn't happening and this was just a normal day of her and her father spending time. As they were on their way back from the arcade they just visited, Patrick leaned over to Mason and said,
"I know you're upset, but don't worry kid, I'll be here forever."
Mason smiled and looked the other way as her eyes welled up with tears. She was about to break but there was no way she could show her father that she was weak.

Months went by and Mason was miserable. It's been months since she had seen or spoken to her father. Instead, she was at home every night, waiting by the door for Diana to stumble in from the bar at midnight hours. She would than have to help her intoxicated mother up the stairs and into bed. Occasionally Diana would come home in a random state of rage and beat Mason, or throw things at her for unknown reasons. It got to the point where the refrigerator was almost empty. The bills weren't being paid and the comfort of the house was crumbling down piece by piece, bit by bit. Mason would try to open up to Diana, seeing as they weren't as close anymore. She would try to tell her mother about her emotions, her feelings and how she had been having thoughts of suicide. Instead of consoling her daughter, Diana would aggravatingly shout,
"Whatever, Oh please, Give me a break Mason."

Mason didn't know what to do anymore. She had tried to talk to several therapists and psychiatrists who only wanted to feed her ridiculous medications which she refused to take. Mason didn't have anyone anymore except her mother who she thought was her best friend but her mother's real best friend was the alcohol.
Somewhere in between all this, Mason had met a boy who she had become really close with. His name was Carter and he was completely oblivious to the fact of what was truly happening behind closed doors. While all of this was going on, Mason had found a way to force herself to be naturally happy around others without using drugs or medication. It was Carter. He was like a blessing in disguise and her own personal addiction. His presence had made everything so much better and more comfortable for her.

When Mason turned sixteen, she and Carter decided she had to be on her own. She could not live with an alcoholic mother much longer in a house flooded with memories of good times and happiness where her father used to live. Mason moved in with Carter and the pain started to ease. He was a natural pain killer and helped her out with everything she needed.

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Mason is currently eighteen years old now and is doing much better than before. She still hasn't seen Patrick since Easter of 2007 and Diana is still continuing her horrible lifestyle of bad habits. Mason is still mentally and emotionally scarred from the dramatic changes in her life. There are still some nights where she cries from the pain of her father leaving her life and her mother's new formed alcoholism. She brutally misses her parents and they way it used to be but realizes her life will still go on just fine with Carter, her soon to be husband. She gives all her thanks to him and considers him a hero for what he as done. If he had come into her life any later, she probably would of been a suicide victim. This is meant to be an inspirational article of how a child's life was flipped upside down but suddenly got easier as time grew. It shows how different people make different influences and impacts on other peoples lives. Also, If Mason had one thing to say to her father today, it would be, "Forever wasn't long enough.".