Daddy's Love
by Harold Ray McDonald Sr. on Thursday, January 27, 2011 at 10:49am
This is the day to remember my daughter, Shawntaya Rachelle McDonald, because this is a special day for me. When Shawntaya was six months old, I sat in the court house and heard the accusations that I couldn’t take care of my daughter appropriately. Deep down, inside I kept repeating that I wanted my daughter so bad, and I am a firm believer in what God said, “Whatever you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them”.
That very day, the judge ruled in my favor saying “This man in capable of taking care of his daughter.” And did not understand why anyone would feel otherwise. I was so happy, words can never explain the excitement which bubbled in me! I felt like God blessed me with the world!
Six years later, On January 16th, 1995, I received a phone call concerning my daughter. I walked into University Hospital’s Emergency Room where the nurse informed me before entering the room Shawntaya was in, that my sister wanted to speak with me first. Thoughts raced through my mind, like “What could be so important that I can’t see my daughter before talking to her?”, “What happened?”, and “How bad was it?”. I felt nervous, fearful, anxious, and angry all at once, but I never would have imagined what I was about to hear.
I remember walking through the door to greet my sister holding all of those emotions in. “Harold, she’s gone.” was the first and only thing she said. Those words literally felt like someone ripping my insides out and taking every bit of strength left inside of me. My legs felt weak. I was numb. I stopped feeling, succumbed to shock and fell to my knees. I blamed myself, everyone, and everything for what happened.
I pulled myself together and walked into the room to see my baby lying in the bed as if she was asleep. I was looking over her, questioning was it real. I was in denial. I just didn’t believe it, and couldn’t believe it. I replayed the phone call in my head.
I was out driving, doing work for the church when my phone rang around 4:15pm. I heard the calm voice of my pastor. “Harold, you need to rush to the hospital. Shawnie has been in an accident.”
I was driving through red lights, speeding and at that moment, I could care less if I got a ticket. All I needed to do is get to my baby.
At the age of 21, Shawntaya represented a new beginning for me and my life. My daughter made me a better man. I went to school, went back to church, became a business owner, bought a house, completely turned my life around and connected with my son. (That’s another miracle chapter of my book).
Shawntaya, did not survive the hit-and-run car accident, which happened one month before 7th birthday.
Here, 16 years later, I am celebrating my youngest daughter 7th birthday along with my own. Each year, I am reminded of my favor with God because He blessed me with a child that represented wisdom, favor, and a time for celebration on my birthday. She could’ve been born on any other day, but God chose the 27th of January. Rayonna is now the age her oldest sister would have been 16 years ago.
Excerpts from my up-coming book.
