Most of you think of April 1st as April Fool’s Day. Not me, I’ve always thought of it as Marty’s birthday.

Those of you who know Marty know that he’s awesome. He’s smart, caring, kind, funny, talented, and a great dad. He’ll drop everything to help out a friend, or a stranger. He’s been an inspiration to me in many ways. He’s a big reason why I’m not afraid to tackle almost any DIY project head on. He’s always like “Yeah dude, you can do it, just use common sense”. We really are like brothers.

When we say in the about us section that we’ve been best friends since 2nd grade we’re not kidding. We really met on our first day. I had just moved to Orlando and I think the story goes that I borrowed a pencil from him and we were friends ever since. It’s kind of amazing that we stayed friends actually, after 3rd grade Marty moved to a different school district. I don’t know how our parents kept in touch and worked it out, but we still had weekend-long sleepovers trading off weekends, one weekend I’d stay at his house and the next he’d stay at mine (I always preferred staying at his house). Then in 1986 I moved to NY, but we still kept in touch and visited once in a while.

Whats amazing about all this is that after all these years and separate lives and rarely seeing each other we both turned out pretty similarly. Our handwriting is pretty much the same, we both are in advertising/design, we both have the same sense of humor, we still know what each other is thinking, and can finish each others’ sentences.

OK, that’s not too much sap right? This is all making me want to start a very self-serving section of this site called “stories” because I’m not going to put them in this post. Anyway, on with some photos of us over the years.

Here’s a snap from around 1981 in front of my house at 4436 Foreland Place, Orlando, FL. Daaamn, look at that Continental we’re leaning on.

L to R: Pete, Marty, Fry (Brian, Marty's brother)

Wow, look at us up there, so innocent. Lots of mischief lay ahead for these young lads.  I could tell you a lot of stories over some beers, but for now you’re going to have to just look at some pics and check out our fashion. Maybe some comments below will help get a sense of how much people love Marty.

Here’s another gem from maybe 1984 this time. Sitting in front of Cinderella’s castle at Disney. And look, there’s Fry being an instigator Here’s a side note about Fry, we’d use him to get our way with Marty’s mom (I’m sorry Ms Ainsworth). We’d tell him our objective and he’d go to work as only a little brother could. Thanks Brian. Wow, look at that fashion, those are some high-top Vans and our colorful 80s skate wear.

Fry, Marty, and Pete at Disney

In 1986 I moved to NY with my family. I think the next photos are from that summer, he came up and visited and we went to Niagara Falls. I don’t actually remember going to Niagara Falls at ALL, but these photos prove we were there. Apparently we switched from Vans to Converse.

Pete and Marty in Niagara Falls, 1986? 1987?

Marty, Niagara Falls

This next photo was from a trip I took down to visit Marty in like 1994. I drove my little Honda Civic almost straight through, stayed for around a week, and drove home. I think during this visit we went to Epcot and decided to have ONE beer in “England” and then sat there all day (if you catch my drift). This pic is from later that week at Busch Gardens, I was trying to sneak a kiss on those smelly dreads.

Marty and Pete at Busch Gardens, 1994

The next time I saw Marty he came up to be best man at my wedding. Hey there’s Jenni McEnerney and Dave Dunham too.

Best man Marty, 1999

I think from 1999 to 2010 I only saw Marty a few times. He most recently visited me in 2010. He came up to NY to see Social Distortion and hang out for my birthday. This picture is ON my birthday. This pic is at my favorite bar/restaurant at the lake, Scuttlebutts.

Marty, August 7, 2010

UPDATE. In 2012 Marty and I were invited to participate in the #KICKGAS event sponsored by Black & Decker. What better way to see a bro and fellow tool-hound, like myself, than to spend an afternoon testing Black & Decker’s new line of 36V cordless lawn tools (which are AWESOME BTW).

We tried to warn Black & Decker not to put their line of 36V cordless lawn equipment in our hands and let us loose at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

OK, ok, this is a long post that only a handful of people give a crap about, but it’s my little birthday tribute to my man Marty.

I love you like a brother. Let’s get together soon.

Leave a comment about Marty below.