“It was just a very tumultuous time for all of us. Very emotional,” Holly Soape, Audrey’s mother, told CBS News. “A lot of grief, a lot of sadness, a lot of anger. So anytime that I have the opportunity to bring joy or excitement into both my children’s lives, I absolutely jump at that moment.”

Audrey started feeling nervous about the dance a few weeks before the big night.

“I knew that if she was going to go, that I wanted it to be something really incredible,” Holly told CBS News. “Something that would just make her feel special and would make her feel loved and important. So I tried to think of the coolest thing that I could come up with.”

Harris popped into her head when brainstorming date options for her daughter. The two had been in sporadic correspondence since March 2020, The Washington Post reports.

Holly decided to reach out to the athlete after her husband died, “hoping he would send back a word of condolence,” the Post reports.

Harris was raised in Richmond by a single mother, according to the Post, and after hearing about the Soape family, he jumped at the chance to help.

“I was like super surprised. Like, more than I can explain surprised. And I was also like, really nervous,” Audrey said, according to CBS News. “Probably more nervous than excited at the beginning, because I didn’t know what I was going to say or do around him.”

Harris made sure the experience was unforgettable for the whole family. The NFL player hooked Audrey up with a new dress and heels, and arranged for the 11-year-old to get her makeup and hair done for the dance. Audrey told the CBS News that as time when on, she felt more and more comfortable with Harris.

“He felt more like my friend, and I could talk to him and open up to him more,” she said.

Holly chaperoned the father-daughter dance, and she was delighted to see her plan was a success.

“As the night progressed he really went out of his way to just make sure she felt special, that she felt comfortable and that she was having a good time,” she said.