This is a true story.  I did not make it up.  I would not have believed it if I did not witness and experience it myself.

I would not have believed it if my mother or, for that matter, my father had told me.  No one could convince me that what happened really happened.  But I experienced it.  I witnessed it.  I’ll never forget it.

Again, I repeat, I am not making any of this up.  It’s a true story.  It all started when I sat down and wrote the words: This is a true story . . .