The scenes and dialogue in this book are reconstructed from my memories and the memories my family has shared with me. I have woven together fragmentary recollections by mining journals, letters, and photos, and by returning to the original locations for visual cues. Where necessary, I have collated related events to form a single cohesive story.
Some names and identifying characteristics have been changed to protect the parties involved, especially concerning criminal activity, and I have excluded certain persons from this story so as not to interfere with ongoing legal cases.
I did not retrieve police records or seek court documentation. As a memoir, this is an artifact of memory. It represents my family narrative as it has been created and shared among us, with all that might be misremembered and muddied by time.