him.

“These people have very soft spots for all types of dogs; both house and stray; and I made friends with all of them.” Tramp explained. “Whenever I needed to eat or receive some human company, they would always take me in.”

“Sounds like everyone loved you around this town.” Scamp replied. “You must have been pretty popular.”

“Well…” Tramp began with a light chuckle. “You could say that they kind of fell for my charm and affection. I was pretty good at making all the dames sigh for me, so that must have been realized through human eyes also. The thing is that you really have to work for their affection to get them to give you attention. So once I earned their respect, I knew that it would be harder for the dogcatchers to get to me because I would have friends watching out for me.”

“Smart thinking.” Scamp responded.

They then went to the street where most of the foreign restaurants of the town were, and Tramp spotted a familiar alleyway next to an Italian restaurant called “Tony’s”.

“This is where I used to dig up my breakfast and lunch.” Tramp began. “This was definitely my favourite place to eat, because these boys…”

“I know this place!” Scamp interrupted. “This is where Angel and I had our first official date; the day after I ran away.”

“You and Angel had your first date here?!” Tramp exclaimed, knowing that this was very coincidental as he and Lady had their first date here as well.

“Yeah. We took a stroll out that night and played around and had some fun together. We then smelled this beautiful food from the streets and came here. Out of nothing the two Italian men saw the both of us as we walked in from behind and offered us a table. They then cooked us some pasta with meatballs, and Angel and I had our very romantic dinner together. That was the most wonderful night of my life.” Scamp started to drift off with dreamy eyes as he remembered Angel kissing him after their dinner. From that moment he knew that it was true love in his eyes; and to him it was the best thing that he had ever felt.

Scamp then remembered his father’s sudden surprise reaction when he began telling him about his and Angel’s first date: “You seemed a bit surprised about this, dad.” He therefore remarked curiously.

“Yes I am.” Tramp replied in an amazed tone. “This is an amazing coincidence, but this is also where your mother and I had our first date here.”

“You have got to be kidding?!” Scamp replied in both surprise and amusement.

“I’m not. On the eve when we got that muzzle off of her, I took her around and showed her the ropes of the streets. Soon we came across here and I offered to take her out for dinner. The boys developed a very soft spot for her when I brought her to their attention; and for such a beautiful breed and looks to match, who couldn’t be, really? They then set up a table for us and also served us pasta with meatballs, while playing some beautiful music at the same time. And then…-” Tramp then went inside his memories and remembered when both he and Lady were slowly eating up the same pasta noodle when they got closer to each other and finally ended it with a kiss. “…then came the kiss when we were both eating the same noodle. That was probably the most romantic moment of my life. That was the moment when I finally found true love.” He then went all dreamy at this thought.

Scamp just stared in amazement at the same experience he had with Angel. This must be the place where love becomes true: the birth of love. He thought.

“Come.” Tramp continued. “Let me show you where we went to after the dinner.” And Scamp followed after his old man as they headed to another familiar place.

Soon they were both traveling though Veterans Park; coming across some of the war memorial statues that listed the names of the soldiers lost in World Wars I and II; crossing the Japanese-style arch bridge over the river; and finally stopping at a love heart that had been drawn into the concrete while the cement was still wet. Within the heart, two paw prints had been imprinted next to each other, and Tramp pointed out to Scamp that this was his and Lady’s paw prints.

“This meant a sign of true love for the both of us.” Tramp was explaining. “There was no way that I was ever going to do it if it was just pure desire. Your mother was different from others that I have seen on the streets. She is probably the sweetest, most gentle and beautiful diva that I have ever dated, and that is when I realized the true meaning of love.”

“You already had dates before?” Scamp asked.

“Yes…” Tramp remarked with a slight chuckle of guilt and embarrassment. “I dated five different dames before I met your mother. I could not help falling for their beauty, but some of them even tried seducing me; and I kept giving in. In a way you could say that I had a weak Achilles heel, or no willpower. I just didn’t know about principles or when to be strong on the inside. Anyway, none of that was serious and each one of them never lasted more than under two weeks.”

“I can see why they loved you:” Scamp replied in a fun and cheeky tone. “You have both charm and the looks to match, right?”

“Ha ha. That’s what I would have thought back then. But anyway, that is all in the past and your mother’s love means everything to me. I don’t know how I could have continued my life on the streets if she walked away from me. If I couldn’t have your mother, I would have lost everything that ever made me feel alive.”

“Did she ever find out about these dames?”

The mention of this took Tramp back to when Lady went mad at him for not mentioning his girlfriends or his “Achilles heel” to her. “Yes she did.” Tramp responded with a slight twinge of pain as he cringed at the thought of it. “But it wasn’t from me: She accidentally got picked up by the dogcatchers when we were chasing chickens and was taken to the pound. Once there she met some old friends of mine and received the unspoken information about me from them. They told her about my old girlfriends; but also my abilities and attitudes out on the streets. Then once she confronted me, she told me to go away and never come near her again. I was hurt at first, but we made up in the end when she told me that she only said those things to protect me; and also because she had a tough time through being captured, chained up and treated badly by Aunt Sarah; and she just had to snap at someone or something. The dames she didn’t worry about because she understood that they were in the past and she was the sign of true love to me.”

Scamp didn’t say anything because he was deep in thought at all of this. He never even had an idea that his own father lacked willpower. He only hoped that he wasn’t as weak in his own mind either.

“Come.” Tramp said, ready to move on to the next memorable place in his mind. “Let me show you this.” And with that they both moved on to another location in the park.

Tramp took Scamp to a ridge at the edge of the park that looked over the entire town of New Haven with the beautiful mountain ranges seen behind the town stretching out over the horizon. The sun had risen far enough above the horizon line to signal mid morning, and it was a beautiful sight to see.

“This is where your mother and I slept that night.” Tramp spoke dreamingly. “I couldn’t think of anything better than to wake up to the beautiful sight of the sun rising on the horizon and the early morning light hitting the landscape.”

“Yeah, this view is incredible!” Scamp exclaimed in amazement, seeing a sight that he had never seen before and loving it. “We can see just about everything from up here.”

“I know; beautiful isn’t it?” Tramp replied, then continued on; “I actually offered to take your mother through the hills and go traveling far away from the town to get, what I described it at the time, a vibe of what a dog’s life can really be like. I encouraged her to try something new by getting out and living away for a bit from the ‘collar and leash’ life, as I used to put it. She really did appreciate the offer, but she politely turned it down as she said that someone needed to be around to take care of the baby.”

“Junior?”

“Yes. He had only just been born at that time, and he needed to be looked after as he was growing up. Plus her owners really did love her and I understood that they could not stand losing her; so I let it be and took her home.”

“I see.” Scamp replied in thought, thinking that his father had thought the same idea of bringing out the ‘real dog’ in a dog as Scamp did when he was dreaming of running free and making a real living. But if she had family to take care of and love, then that was probably the best decision to make. Scamp thought. I admire that sense of wisdom in her.

Tramp and Scamp then descended from the ridge and though Veterans Park once again, before