Kelly Rowland’s father who has been out of her life for over 20 years has resurfaced to make amends with his superstar daughter.
Christopher, who has not seen Kelly, 30, since she was seven, chokes back tears as he pleads:
“Kelly, I love you with all my heart. Please forgive me and let me be your dad again.”
He admits his failure to provide for his family, a drink problem and a vicious temper tore his family apart. But he still idolises his daughter, and treasures the memories of their time together.
Lovett reminisce of the day Kelly was born:
“I loved her from the moment she took her first breath. I remember as clear as day Kelly and I singing together, from the moment she could talk. Our favourite songs were by Stevie Wonder. I would put one headphone in my ear and the other in hers and we would sing and sing, so happy to be together.
“But then I lost my job at a transportation company, sank into a depression about money and began drinking more and more. The failure to provide for my family fuelled an anger that I will be ashamed of until my dying day.
“It wasn’t physical between me and Kelly’s mum, but there were many days and nights when Kelly would be bawling her eyes out, clutching my leg begging me, ‘Please daddy stop shouting at mummy’. That image of her howling, begging me to stop will haunt me forever.
“I really hoped I would get to make it up to her. Sadly I am still waiting for that day. But I can’t give up hope. That’s why there is a room in my house which I have decorated especially for Kelly, just in case she comes through the front door.”
Kelly remembers her father and has spoken about him only briefly in the past:
“I don’t know where he is but I hope he’s not dead. That would break my heart.
“I remember my dad being drunk and aggressive towards my mom but not me. I don’t know if he knows who I am or what I’ve done. He must be hiding under a rock if he doesn’t.”
Kelly was born on February 11, 1981 in Atlanta, Georgia. Christopher and her mum Doris, who married four years later, named her Kelendria.
Things took a turn for the worse when Christopher lost his job…Kelly was six at the time.
“I am a proud man and wanted the best for my family so when I lost my job I was utterly ashamed and hid from that shame with drink.
“When Doris challenged me, I would just lose it. No parent should scream and shout in front of their child, and I am sorry to say there were too many times to mention that Kelly heard me screaming abuse at her mother. Sometimes she would run to her bedroom screaming, others she would cling to my trouser leg begging me to stop. When the electricity was cut off and we received an eviction letter we agreed for Doris to take Kelly to her aunt’s house while I sorted things out.
“Little did I know the day they left would be the last time I would see my wife and daughter ever again.
“Every time I phoned her aunt’s house she told me Kelly and her mum were out. I had no job, no money, no car and just no way of getting the 20 miles to where they were staying.
“When six months had passed I begged a friend for a ride to her aunt’s house and she told me they had moved to Texas. I begged her to give me an address, but she flat-out refused. I knew I had to stop drinking, get a job or I would never see my daughter again.
But by then it was too late and they were gone, the two people I loved with all my heart and that tore me up and still does today.”
In 2000 he drove eight hours to North Carolina to see Kelly perform.
“I sat for the whole concert in one of the cheap seats at the back with tears of joy and utter despair rolling down my face. I wrote a note and begged a security guard to pass it to her.
“It said, ‘Darling I have been looking for you. I am so proud of you and I love you so much and I just long to tell you that in person. Love Dad’. But no matter how much I begged the guard he would not believe I was her father.” Christopher
Christoper adds….
“I own a big home now and have retired so I don’t want any of Kelly’s fortune, I just want her love. I just hope she does not become such a big star in England on X Factor that she forgets about her dad completely. I’m getting old now – I just hope she reads this and doesn’t leave getting back in touch with me before it is too late.”
via karenvaughn.com
