Clara Rojas and Consuela Gonzalez were released today!  (See the story here.  ) They were picked up by helicopters under the auspices of the International Red Cross, and flown to Caracas, Venzuela, where their families had been waiting since the first failed attempt to secure their release.  Clara's mother, an elderly woman who surely had been living with the fear of dying before ever seeing her daughter again, finally got to see her, touch her and hug her.  And these two women will head to Bogota, Colombia to find Clara's son Emmanuel, whom she hasn't seen in several years.  This is just such an unbelievably happy ending to this situation.  I am smiling ear to ear.

But even as I get carried away by this happy news, I get stopped short when I remember there are still more than 700 hostages being held by the FARC, including three Americans.  Here's hoping this is just a beginning.