Out of Captivity : Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle

Proof of Life 157to be back with my family. When it came time for me to address themdirectly in the video, I was glad that I had decided not to prepare anyremarks. I wanted to speak from the heart, and when talking aboutthem earlier in the Q&A session, I’d choked up quite a bit. Keith andTom were always there to put a hand on my arm or around my shoulders,but I didn’t want them to have to do that. I wanted to do whatmy mother had said—to be strong. My mother’s words still hung inthe air around me. I wanted to tell my mother how proud I was of her.I didn’t know how she did it, how she managed to record that videoand get it into the right hands so that I could see it. The fact that hervoice had penetrated that thick, humid, gloomy jungle amazed me andawed me.In part, what I said was this:“Mom, I got your message and I thank you for doing what you hadto do to get that message to me. I love you, too. I want you to know thatI am being strong. I’m not being hurt or tortured. I’m just waiting tocome home.“Shane. I love you. I’ve been waiting to tell you that I think about youevery day. Just wait for me, baby.“Joey, Cody, Destiney. I love you guys. I’m just waiting to come home.Just wait for me. I’m waiting to get back to you. I love you.“That’s it.”TOMFor nearly all of our captivity, I had been hoping to get news of anykind. For a while I had been saying that we had all been taken out of theinformation age and pushed back into the Stone Age. When we finallylearned some news, it was nearly all bad. Learning that our countrywas at war with another group of terrorists was the best thing we’dheard. I didn’t want any Americans to die, but knowing that we werefighting against a regime that had done so much damage to the verypeople it was supposed to protect and had harbored terrorists, it was a