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

Proof of Life 159As far as we knew, he could have been some guy the FARC used to act asa journalist. Botero had told us that two journalists in Los Angeles wereworking to track down our families so that they could be provided withour messages, but that wasn’t the most precise answer to our questionsabout how the video would be used. Maybe they wanted to do the proofof life just to calm us all down, to make us think that our release wasnear. We all knew that happy prisoners were easier to control.My skepticism was reinforced when the taping was wrapped upand we were waiting to return to our bunk room. I found a piece ofpaper on the floor. I looked it over and saw that it was a letter from ahostage—not one of of us—and it was addressed to his family. I didn’tfeel comfortable reading it, so I didn’t, but it made me angry to thinkthat one of the many FARC upper-echelon guys who’d been there withus, or even Botero, had likely failed to deliver on a promise to anotherprisoner. That could easily have been a letter from me to Mariana.I was proud of us and how we’d conducted ourselves throughout theday. We’d refuted every one of their bogus claims about what our missionhad been. Whenever any of us got choked by emotion, the othersstepped up and offered support and comfort. We all spoke from theheart and stuck to our plan to be as reassuring as possible. I had beengiven a pair of reading glasses to use temporarily. I made it appear asthough I’d been administered a miracle cure. I could now read, whereasbefore I was nearly blind. I hoped the FARC got the message via wordand action. I needed glasses.When it came time for us to speak to our families, I tried to be asthoughtful and deliberate as I could. I was glad that I’d been able tohear Keith’s words. He said a lot of what I wanted to say, particularlywhen he was asked what he missed. He was pretty choked up, and seeinghim that way got to me.“I’m kind of a hard-ass. I apologize,” he’d said in his statement. “Thetwo things that get me in the heart are my two children and my fiancée.When I feel sometimes like not going on, I think in my mind of my