'Marty'.
She calls me 'Marty'. When we're talking on the phone, she calls me 'Marty'. When we're eating dinner together, she calls me 'Marty'. When we're cuddling on the couch, she calls me 'Marty'. When she grabs me during a scary movie, she calls me 'Marty'. When we're in bed, she calls me 'Marty'. Whenever we're alone, she calls me 'Marty'.
When she calls me 'Marty', I can't help but smile.
Jamie and Allison call me 'Marty'. Jamie gave me that nickname when I was just a baby. At least that's what Aunt Bonnie told me. They came over to visit us a couple of weeks after I was born. Jamie was only 5 years old then. Aunt Bonnie said Jamie was frustrated that she couldn't pronounce the "tin" in "Martin", so she started calling me Marty. And Allison? Well, she was one of those kids that followed everything their older sibling did.
"Come on, Marty! Let's go play in the yard!"
Uncle Roger calls me 'Marty'. Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Roger were forced into calling me Marty. When we were kids, Jamie would get mad at them whenever they called me Martin. But I doubt they had a problem with 'Marty' anyways. The earliest recollection I have of Uncle Roger calling me 'Marty' was when he gave me my first football ever on my 6th birthday. He pulled me away from the party and out to the backyard and gave me one of my most treasured presents in my entire life.
"Here you go, Marty. Boys can't grow up to be men until they know how to throw a football."
With my father, it had always been, and always will be, "Martin". When I was younger, I would throw tantrums at him for not calling me 'Marty'. He said nicknames are for the weak. And if you're a Fitzgerald, you can't be weak.
"Nicknames are stupid, Martin. You're a Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald's are strong. Martin is a strong name. Why do you think I picked it?"
My mom, she would call me 'Marty' occasionally. Mostly, when she needed me to do something for her. Or when she informed me of a date she set up for me with one of those high classed, uptight, sophisticated, rich women. But, she also calls me 'Marty' whenever she found that I was upset about something. Those were the times I was actually happy to be home.
"Marty, what's wrong? Did you have a bad day at school?"
And of course, Aunt Bonnie called me 'Marty'. It's still so hard to talk about her in the past tense. Aunt Bonnie…she was …she was the most wonderful person I have ever known. Actually, the most wonderful person I ever will know. She was like the parent I never had. She showed and showered me with love I never received from home. She loved me as if I were her own child. That night we found her, on the hospital bed, she told me something I will always treasure in my heart.
"I love you, Marty. Always remember that."
'Marty'.
'Marty' is special. The people I love and love me call me 'Marty'.
So when she calls me 'Marty', I can't help but smile.
Because when she calls me 'Marty', I can't help but hope that she loves me too.
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