You have found the John Henry Bell II who grew up in Mississippi. My father was John Henry Bell of Forest Mississippi. He was the son of E.A. Bell. He worked as a police officer in Jackson, MS and later owned restaurants in Columbus, MS. I attended Oak Grove School, near Hattiesburg, MS beginning in the 4th grade and moved to SD Lee High School Columbus, MS just in time to begin the 10th grade.

At age 19, I married Angela Jane Hodges, my high school sweetheart, while serving in the US Army at Schofield Barracks Hawaii. I served 9 years and ended my third enlistment at Ft. McClellan in Alabama. After leaving the Army, I taught Computer Science at HM Ayers State Technical College in Anniston, AL. During this time Angela and I had a son we named Andrew Johnathan Bell. Shortly after twenty years of marriage Angela and I divorced. Angela and I both remarried other people. She married Jon Sandberg and I married Sherry Jones.

Shortly after I married Sherry, Angela decided to take Andrew away from me. Angela is a very smart person who handily succeeded. I will not go into the tactics she used here but let it be clearly understood, I never missed a scheduled visitation or a child support payment and I spent thousands of dollars trying to keep my joint custody of Andrew. Eventually, and with a broken heart, I agreed to relinquish my rights if Andrew's stepfather would adopt him.

(RANT: I believed then as I do now, a child needs a two parent home with a father and a mother. I know I will get lots of emails about this. As a veteran I would defend your right to disagree with me. I still have the right to hold and express my beliefs even if they disagree with yours.)

Andrew's stepfather did adopt him and his name was changed to Andrew Sandberg. I have not seen Andrew since he was almost five years old. I have tried to keep up with him though. The person who I spoke to fairly regularly about him has passed away and I have not been able to identify someone else who has contact with the Sandberg family. I have contacted his great uncle Bill and his grandmother but they must think I am a horrible person and would reveal very little. I do not give up easily though... I will find a way to keep myself informed.

My second wife, Sherry, is the smartest, the sweetest and the most kind-hearted person I have ever met. She is a wonderful wife in every way and a great mother too. When I married Sherry she had a two year old daughter, who I have adopted and love as my own. Her name is now Madalyn Renee Bell. Maddy is a great kid. She is smart too. She consistently scores in the top 99 percentile on the standardized test at school. Maddy has always attended private school and was reading at a 10th grade level when she started second grade. I'll bet you can not tell how proud I am of Madalyn.

I pray for Andrew, his parents, Sherry, Madalyn and a host of other people who I care about every day. I will publish my special prayer so you can all read it. I hope it will inspire someone else and help them.