It’s difficult to find the words to express our gratitude for the outpouring of support and heartfelt messages in both blog comments and e-mail which have meant so, so much.  Please accept this as an enormously grateful thank you.  Your words have meant the world to both of us as we try to adjust to the huge hole that has been left. Hearing that his pictures brought delight to so many others was wonderful.  The past few days have been ones of quiet reflection on the joys that Lester brought into our lives.   His majestic lion-like look, his wonderfully goofy personality, the incredible amount of love that he bestowed on us, his delight in giving kitty kisses, the delight we got in patting those enormous kitty paws are all things that are and will be missed for quite some time.

Lester tried so hard, but just couldn’t recover from that last stroke. We were very fortunate that he bounced back from the first three strokes so well and we had all that extra time with him.  When we took him to the vet on Monday, he just wanted to lie down, rest his head on my arm while I stroked him and Mr. Q.O. held his paw and talked to him.  It was time.  He left us very peacefully and quietly and for that I am grateful.  The hole left in our hearts will take time to heal, we know.   Now our attention is on Smudge, who is clearly feeling the loss of his brother.

I have closed comments on this post as replying to comments about Lester is beyond me.  The tears still fall all too easily.  Once again, thank you all so very, very much.  The comfort we got from reading your comments is impossible to put into words.