Imagine to be shot, to be made a quadriplegic.
To not have the life you intended to have, perhaps not even have the number of children you intended to have because you can’t.
But instead to find another life.
A life so filled with love that the people around you felt it radiating, that all were better for having known you.
Via NY Post:
Legendary NYPD Detective Steven McDonald was remembered Friday at his Manhattan funeral service as a faithful man on a “mission,” beating the odds and becoming a “living example of forgiveness.”
About 15,000 fellow brothers and sisters in blue from across the country, family and friends turned out to bid a final farewell to the 59-year-old hero cop who was left paralyzed from the neck down after a teen gunman shot him in the line of duty in Central Park 30 years ago.
In a powerful tribute that drew a standing ovation from everyone at the packed St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Midtown, McDonald’s NYPD cop son Conor said, “When God made my dad as a cop, he broke the mold,” calling his father “the real Superman.”
Conor recalled how his dad, a lifelong New York Rangers fan, Navy veteran and lover of The Who, spent some of their most “cherished” moments watching the Rangers play at Madison Square Garden and how McDonald called him every day at 5 a.m. at the start of his shift “to say good morning.”
“My father was always committed to me,” Conor said. “He did more than most able bodied dads could ever do with their sons.”
“My dad wanted to make sure his time on earth was not wasted and that is why he was so passionate in spreading God’s message of love and forgiveness,” said Conor, who proudly followed in his father’s footsteps, joining the ranks of the NYPD in 2010. “He made it his mission to have all of us realize love must win.”
Conor was promoted to detective in January 2016 and again to sergeant in September as his father looked on.
McDonald famously forgave the cowardly 15-year-old gunman, Shavod Jones, months after he was left for dead on July 12, 1986 after taking three bullets, leaving him quadriplegic, dependent on a wheel chair and unable to breathe on his own.
“Steven lived despite the odds, a fun and fulfilling life. In a serious reversal of roles, it was Steven, a paralyzed man, who touched the lives of so many people,” said McDonald’s wife’s cousin Msgr. Seamus O’Boyle during the homily at the church where McDonald – who died Tuesday days after suffering a massive heart attack – and his family were regular attendees for midnight mass on Christmas Eve.
“Steven loved life. He loved his family and rejoiced in life even though it wasn’t always easy,” said O’Boyle, who married McDonald and his wife, adding that McDonald loved to give advice to “knuckleheads.”
The family was able to have Phillip Phillips, singer of “Home”, perform the song at the wake.
You cannot hear a pin drop. But the love in the room is palpable.
Welcome home, oh good and faithful servant.
