Trapped underground in a Chilean mine for more than three weeks, Esteban Rojas' thoughts have been fixed on his girlfriend of 25 years.
The two are registered civil partners, but Rojas now wants the couple to marry in a church ceremony with his bride in a wedding dress.
"I thought he was never going to ask me. We have talked about it before, but he never asked me," Jessica Yanez told the London Daily Mail. "He always said getting married is a once-in-a-lifetime thing and he would ask me when the time is best. Obviously, what has happened has made him do it."
Rojas is among 33 men trapped 2,300 feet underground in a gold and copper mine near San Jose. Rescuers say it could be December before the men can be rescued. Meanwhile, NASA officials are expected to arrive at the mine this week to provide physical and mental health support to the trapped men.
The men have mostly communicated with their families through letters, although each was allowed a brief telephone conversation on Sunday. This week, the men are to receive sandwiches and hot food. Until now, they have survived on liquids.
The mining company said all of the miners were in good spirits and looking forward to the promised solid food.
The fact that they were looking forward to a hot meal is hardly surprising. But it is more remarkable that their spirits remain so high. The father of one of the miners told CNN that after a brief phone call, he surmised that his son was "good, very good. He told me to be patient and to have faith."
Indeed, in a circumstance like that, all one can do is wait, pray and hang on to hope.
Three years ago, a similar scenario played out in Utah's coal country after the collapse of the Crandall Canyon Mine on Aug. 6, 2007. Six men were trapped in the initial collapse. Three others perished during a rescue operation 10 days later. The rescuers' bodies were recovered, but the mine workers' bodies remain entombed in the mine.
Huntington Mayor Hilary Gordon said news reports of the trapped Chilean miners stirred old feelings about the Crandall Canyon disaster — the waiting, the not knowing, hanging on to hope and, finally, having to cope with the worst possible outcome.
But Gordon said the news reports also filled her with joy. "They have the opportunity to have their lives saved," she said during a telephone interview Monday.
This ordeal has provided the trapped men an opportunity apart from the routine and responsibilities of everyday life to do some serious soul searching, she said.
"I'm sure, given that type of situation, it makes everyone rethink the important stuff of life," Gordon said.
Gordon's father, who was British, used to tell his children that everything was about "pounds, shillings and pence."
"We live our lives, and we are driven by that. I bet they (the trapped miners) are not thinking of dollars or the stuff it can buy. They're looking at basic needs, grateful for each meal and the air they breathe."
The miners have been sustained by simple pleasures such as clean towels, shampoo and aluminum bed frames. To help lift their spirits, rescuers have also sent MP3 players into the mine, along with speakers and a mini TV projector. Recordings of films and soccer games are on the way.
Mostly, though, their thoughts are of their loved ones, many of whom have kept a constant vigil in a tent city dubbed Camp Hope.
If all goes well, there will be happy reunions for these men and their families, although experts say the rescue may take up to four months.
"That is such a horribly long time for them to wait and for their families to wait," Gordon said.
It is. But we can only imagine what a day of rejoicing it will be.
Marjorie Cortez, who hopes engineers can complete a rescue well before December, is a Deseret News editorial writer. E-mail her at marjorie@desnews.com.