MY STORY

The paperwork
said Tramp...

TENNESSEE

The long drive.

All I remember was a cold shelter in Tennessee. It was the kind where a dog’s time runs out.

Luckily, mine didn’t. Someone kindly loaded me into a van and drove me to New York.

It was a long shot, but I'm already lucky to be here.

I spent a few nights sleeping on a random couch with another random dog. Until one day the humans there drove me to PetSmart.

APRIL 2021 / NEW YORK

Adoption day.

Two other random humans met us there. Kind of needy people. Following me all over the store trying to chat. You know the kind.

But eventually they knelt down, grabbed me, held up a piece of paper with the words "Adoption" and "Tramp" on it, and posed for a picture. They loaded up on toys, food, and a bed and suddently they were driving me to another home.

When we got there, I sat them down and had a little talk about the fact they kept calling me "Tramp". They let me choose Marty.

Marty standing in a pet store aisle between two kneeling people in face masks, one holding a certificate of adoption — FIG. 01 — THE DAY I GOT MY PEOPLE.

My website says "my human" everywhere. But I actually own two of them.

OCTOBER 31, 2019 / MORE OR LESS

My birthday is a guess.

Nobody really knows how old I am. On adoption day the best guess was a year and a half. My humans counted backwards, landed near the end of October, and picked Halloween.

So my birthday is October 31, 2019. It’s official because we said so.

I think about that guess a lot. If it’s wrong, I’m either younger than I look or I have less time than I think.

Erring on the side of caution, I’m planning for the second one.

2021 TO 2025 / NEW YORK CITY

City dog.

I lived in New York for four years.

This is me a couple of weeks after I was adopted. That’s the Statue of Liberty back there. People cross oceans for that view.

I lay down.

Marty lying flat on his side on a waterfront promenade, with the Statue of Liberty small in the distance across the water — FIG. 02 — ME, SEEING THE SIGHTS.

2025 TO NOW / FORT LAUDERDALE

Water dog.

In 2025 we moved to Fort Lauderdale. There’s water behind some of the houses here.

And sailboats park back there like cars. Weirdly, a lot of them never move.

I ride up front on a paddleboard and daydream about them. I'd take them somewhere.

The paddleboard is a good vessel. I love it! But its not a boat.

Anyway, if you’re ever in Fort Lauderdale and you see a human and a dog on a paddleboard somewhere, it’s probably me.

Wave. Yell out, "Hey, Marty!" I'll look up for sure.