His name was Lester

Above is his baby picture from 2013.

I met Lester on Ash Wednesday, 2013.  When I exited my car to attend a noon Ash Wednesday service, I was approached by a lady wringing her hands about a kitten crying in the church yard.  

Instantly, I climbed into the church yard, captured the kitten, handed him off to a crossing guard who was on the corner outside the church yard, then climbed out.

I put the kitten in a box in my car.  The car was still warm - at that time of year the heat in my car is ramped up to the high heavens.

When the service was over, there was the kitten still chilling in the box.

I took him home, then took him to the vet to be examined, then named him Lester.

He was always a very very good boy.

A year or two ago, he came down with kidney stones.  After getting treated, he was back to normal.

The stones returned in force three weeks ago.  The vet said only once in his career had he seen a cat with as many stones as Lester had.  

Lester got surgery, but even after a two weeks on pain meds, it was apparent that he was still very uncomfortable.  This past weekend, he stopped eating.  I ran him to the vet on Sunday.  Later that day, I was told that his kidney enzymes (or whatever they're called)  were  waayyy too high.  And yesterday, his kidneys shut down completely.

It's currently 5:32 where I live (Cape May County), and approximately 24 hours ago, Lester crossed the Rainbow Bridge, a little shy of his 5th birthday.

He will be sorely missed.