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"See, I know the only thing that is real in life is constant change. I know I have got to do this time alone, and that I can only be sure of one thing. That is, that nothing will be the same when I get home."
These are the words of my father, Peter Gallione, which he wrote to my mother and me from prison on September 27, 1974, one year into his sentence for aggravated assault and various weapons and drug offenses. For the next two years until his release, he committed himself to a drug program and enrolled in college as an inmate, both of which led him on a path to recovery and redemption. People often encouraged him to write a memoir to share his story. His sudden death during the 2020 COVID pandemic was the unsolicited and unexpected catalyst that it apparently took to get it done.
This tribute memoir — written, compiled, and presented by those who knew my father — aims to do some justice to his life of love, family, drugs, imprisonment, recovery, redemption, and peace. Its compilation also provided those who loved him a way to grieve his passing during a time when gatherings were unsafe. It is my hope that his story will reach someone, somewhere, struggling with addiction and will demonstrate that true change is indeed possible and that, in the end, all that truly matters is love.
