Our neighborhood hardware store has had a resident kitty all the years we’ve lived here.
His name was Jughead. A solid black shorthair with a big belly, he just sort of adopted the store and they adopted him in return.
They provided him with a warm, soft bed and food bowls by the paint counter, while he kept the store free from mice.
And I stopped to scratch his ears and listen to him purr every time I shopped there.

Except today. Today I ran by and something was different.
Sadly, come to find out, Jughead passed away recently.

But as I left, my sadness was eased when I met their new kitty resident. His name is Archie and he’s a charmer.
He’s sweet, friendly, chatty. While he’s not Jughead, I’m happy to have a buddy to visit when I have a hardware run.