Good Buddy

I have some sad news to share this week. Though many of you are fairly new to The Soup Peddler, there's a whole lot of back story that I've kind of stopped sharing over the years. After all, you can't really keep telling the same story for too long or you'll find people avoiding you at parties and so forth. But back in the early days I lived in a house just up the hill from our shop and a Collie/Aussie mix named Alex lived there too. We were roommates for six years and she kept me company a lot when I was cooking soup and riding my bike. She became a regular here at the kitchen and sort of the de facto mascot of The Soup Peddler. She was in Soup Peddler: The Movie and also a major character in Soup Peddler: The Book. Over time, I got busy with life, moved out, got married and had a kid. We still borrowed her frequently and took her for hikes and stuff. She was even in a photo with us in Life Magazine. Eventually, we adopted a bad little orphan kitten and he made her visits to our house miserable, ambushing her fluffy tail from the couch or piano bench. She was slowing down, and I guess we got too busy with the kid. We didn't see a whole lot of her in recent years. But she kept hanging in there, to the ripe old age of 17 years. I guess you can see where this is going. Alex was put to sleep in her front yard surrounded by loved ones on a beautiful day last week. I have a few photos to share from those early days...