Book Update: Chapters 13-19

Beginning in chapter 13, Jennifer becomes the narrator again. Mike Gauldin and Rob Johnson returned to Jennifer's house in June of 1995 where they delivered the news that Ronald Cotton was, is, and always had been an innocent man. She realized that she had made a crucial mistake and she was speechless. This had to be a very rough moment for Jennifer because she had cost a man eleven years of his life, which had affected his whole families lives as well. She also believed that she was in danger, and that Ronald Cotton and his family would come after her. She had a reason to believe that since she did not know Cotton, but I knowing his personality I knew that he wouldn't try to "get even" with Jennifer Thompson. Ronald had began staying with his sister whom the family called Tudy. He and Rich Rosen had gotten the opportunity to appear on Larry King Live in 1995 to explain his story of being falsely accused. He received a job at LabCorp, which I thought would be very good for him to start on his own feet. One day, he saw Detective Lowe at work where he apologized, and said that Jennifer was also extremely sorry. He then decided that he wanted to meet Jennifer, and hear what she had to say to him. Then Cotton and Thompson both appeared on a documentary called "What Jennifer Saw," but they did not have contact while the film was created. Jennifer watched it and saw that Ron said he wished to meet Jennifer. She called Captain Gauldin and it was arranged for the two to meet and bring their spouses along with them. I was nervous at this point, because I didn't know how either of them would react. When they met, Jennifer sobbed and told Ron that she couldn't explain the sorrow that she felt in her heart, and asked if Ron could forgive her. Ron said that he wholeheartedly forgave her, and wanted each of them to be happy. This shocked me more than anything else, because Jennifer had taken away eleven years of his life that was spent behind bars, and he haven't know her for ten minutes and had already forgave her. The greatest thing about them meeting was that over the years, they became great friends and spoke over the phone regularly. They became increasingly close and even began to meet when they were in town, which was really great to hear. Overall, this story was a true and real example of how powerful the act of forgiveness can truly be.