Hello everyone,
Some of you may have heard the news that Snackers is no longer with us. This past Tuesday we took her to the vet and sat with her while she peacefully left for the pizza party in the sky. There were tears. There were snacks. She peed in the vet’s office. We sat in a pee stinked room for an hour waiting, all the while rubbing her exhausted head and feeding her treats. Minus the pee it’s how each of us here at B&D would like to go.
On the ride home we were quiet, although soon after we sat in our yard reminiscing carefully because honestly it was too weird an awful that she was not there with us. Here we were mostly quiet too. There we so many stories about her that we barely had the room in our hearts to say all of them aloud.
Still…
We chatted about how fortunate we were to own a shop dog. Of course Snackers had a double-life in our house but she really came alive in our downtown bookstore. At 609 and 567 Richmond (as well as 121 Studios in the old Novack’s building) this little puppy mill survivor opened her heart to the world. She WAS the dog along that strip for many visitors. We had school kids waving at her through our big front window. She was even a regular for Instagram folks who tour Ontario visiting shop dogs. She was a star, and none of that was us. She built that whole thing herself. We just brought our friend to work. She made it an event.
…which was great because we’re not the most social people in the end. Snackers did A LOT of the heavy lifting, making our shop a truly communal place. We were lucky to have a taste of that old school shop culture, where places actually become community centres (privately owned and eccentric community centres) and a few folks can make a living tending it like a garden. We know that in London people are making these kinds of places again (Variety Cafe anyone?) and we use the Snackers Test as a gauge to how “communal” a place really is. If Snackers could comfortably sit and groan and stare and snack then there’s a seed of something in a place that needs protecting. Seriously, everyone loved her. Not just students, hipsters, dog people, or kids. She made a heart along that strip and people wanted to be near it.
Cooper is doing okay. She wanders around the house looking for her friend. We take her out with us and she looks back to see if Snackers is behind her. She languishes in the existential void with us. We are doing our best for her, though. We take her on car rides and bought her special snacks and tell her that although she’s the top dog now we still believe in her and that heavy is the head that wears the crown. We don’t think she likes it. She’s SO WEE. Lenore is her friend though. Lenore feeds her Cheesies. Lenore shares her toys. We think these two will become buddies for life. Buddies for life, just like Snackers.
So buy some books and console our heart. Help us buy bottles of wine. We need wine, friends. So. Much. Wine. And do come in to say hello when you can. We won’t dwell in sorrow, but friends are best in times like these.
Much love,
Jason and Vanessa
