NORTH AUGUSTA --- A misspelling kept Sandra Neal from finding her dad for 22 years.
But on Friday, she not only had the right spelling, but she got to meet her dad for the first time.
"I often thought about you," said her father, Sam Stevens. "I think the Lord was what brought us back together."
Mrs. Neal and a friend stood in the yard of her Kirby Street home Friday to see whether her dad could figure out which one was his daughter. He didn't pick her right away, but their personalities couldn't hide it for long as they both enjoy country cooking and seem to have a quick wit.
For Mrs. Neal, 55, the meeting came years after learning she had been adopted at three months. She found the adoption papers at age 9 and got more information from her adoptive parents but never saw the papers again.
Years later, she started searching for her parents -- mother Helen Hutto, of Bamberg, S.C., and her father, whose name she remembered spelled as Sam Stephens. The search began more than 20 years ago when Mrs. Neal needed to track down her birth parents' medical history when she thought one of her sons might have had leukemia.
She found her mother in Bamberg, but the connection didn't happen after attempts.
The hunt for her father, who is remarried, was unfruitful until a maternal aunt passed away two weeks ago. Mrs. Neal and her husband, Bobby, received news from a family member that the spelling Mrs. Neal had for her dad was wrong, and that Mr. Stevens was still in town.
Mrs. Neal tracked down an uncle to see whether her father would be receptive to a meeting. He said he would give it a shot.
"I decided I would drive down there to go to his church just to see what he looked like, even if he wouldn't see me," Mrs. Neal said.
On Thursday, she got a call from Mr. Stevens.
"I tried to go to bed three times," he said. "I didn't sleep a bit since I've talked to her."
Almost every hour Thursday evening, Mr. Stevens called just to talk.
"It sure makes me feel so good," he said. "I don't think I've had this feeling in many a day."
Reach Julia Sellers at (706) 823-3424 or julia.sellers@augustachronicle.com
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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What a great story ! Best wishes to both of them.
I love happy endings.
Her father owes 18 yrs in back child support payments. Pay up buddy.
Very heartwarming story for sure. As fas as mispelling words, it would be nice if the AC would edit their stories better. If my memory serves me right Bamburg should be spelled Bamberg. I worked EMS down there for 3+ yrs around 2000 and I remember Bamberg. Come on AC, do some editing.
I'm glad they are happy. I just don't know how I would feel in this situation. But I don't think if either of my parents wanted me when I was borne, I wouldn't need them after I was grown. My love would be for my adoptive parents.
Susie, it's possible that this was an unplanned pregnancy by two young people who couldn't raise a young baby and were thinking about the best interest of the child. It doesn't say what the reason was that this child was given up for adoption but in my mind it was better than abortion or living in conditions where the child wasn't properly taken care of. It may not have been that the parents didn't want her. I'm sure she loves her adoptive parents dearly but that doesn't mean she can't have a lovely relationship with her biological father now. And R2, if the biological father gave up his parental rights at 3 months, and I'm sure he would have to allow the adoption, then he owes no child support. Can't you post something positive.
There are certain circumstances with adoption. No one should assume that the parents didn't want the child. I met my biological sister when I was 17 years old and can't imagine not knowing her. I just hate that we missed 17 years of our lives. Best wishes to this Father & Daughter!
ICL (miss know it all), her parents obviously werem't married otherwise she would have known how to spell his name. No marriage, no need for giving up parental rights. I post what I want. I don't take orders from you missy.
Errors on birth certificates are common, and the mother doesn't fill out the birth certificate. And back then, it was common for men to give up birth rights even when they were married. R2, you are making assumptions and they are not necessarily true. Mr. Stevens does not owe child support, that's part of the deal when you give up parental rights.
He didn't claim her, didn't marry her mom, so there were no parental rights to give up. Don't try to make it all legit now. He does owe 18 years worth of child support to the state. Slacker. They should come after him and demand that he pay for the raising of his child like every other deadbeat dad. Now that we know who he is, I say pay for your child.
It said that she was adopted? In that case the birth parents would have no further financial responsibility. Why so angry?
Dear AC moderator. You are being very prejudicial because there was no reason for removing my post. I didn't say anything inappropriate. I have a right to express ny opinion.
She was looking for her father because she was looking for biological medical information because her son was sick. That was clearly stated in the article. It also stated her wonderful biological mother would not meet her. Further, it said her adoptive parets didn't seem to think that her right to know was important enough to give all of the proper information she wanted when she asked to make her search sucessful. I think the father seems to be the nice guy here. Maybe he never was given the choice to be a parent to her when she was born. Back then, fathers desires were not onsidered much. I am from that era, not a man, and not adopted, and never gave a baby up for adoption....just pointing out that you will never know what really went on there....he sounds like he is thrilled she located him. I wish them well.......as should everyone.
This happy case is a good lesson in genealogy research as well. Name misspellings are very common in public records - sadly enough. Always try multiple spellings when looking for someone and double-check your own personal documents as well. For example- my husband has a hyphenated first name - leave out the hyphen and we found out that it can cause a world of trouble! LOL... congrats again to this happy ending.
So what is the point of all this? Isn't it really just a big invasion the privacy of everyone involved?
R2, are you stupid or did you misread? She was adopted. He doesn't owe child support. Get rid of that chip on your shoulder. Uncle Bill, they must have wanted the publicity or otherwise the media would not have been alerted. ("alert the media" Name the movie).
This is very very sad! 159ace