ALEX -- “Made himself something the people who discarded him never imagined.”

We celebrated this family cat, Alex, as a "Contemplation" in our July 18, 2023, edition of readlarrypowell.com. His story came to us from our writer friend Sarah Hays in Lubbock.
[LARRY ASIDE: For Prayers & Passages, we have prepared this commemoration for a  cat who …. well, that headline is the foundation of the story as told by Sarah.]

Sarah also sent this picture. It is an “early-in-his-grown-up-cat career” photo of the adored and adoring Alex. And the photo captures a revelation in the life of a cat who was abandoned, then had enough faith in humans left to take up a significant role in the hearts of a family.
In our July 18 edition of readlarrypowell.com, the first headline on this great cat’s story read “Contemplating A Cat Named Alex.”
From opening remarks in that July 18 edition, we borrow this opinion: “The reality of animal rescue and adoption is this: It’s personal.”
We dedicated the story of Alex “to humans who took a longshot that turned out to be a sure thing.” You may have one or more longshots who have blessed your lives.

Part of the story of this beloved cat was headlined “LEARNING FROM ALEX.” Sarah began:
 “Alex has left us. That's such a simple sentence, but it means so much of a change for us.” 

That opening by Sarah was sent to readlarrypowell.com on the evening of Monday, July 17, the day Alex’s earthly ailments couldn’t be conquered. 
Sarah wrote of Alex, the family member. I’m repeating her opening — it’s spare and to the point, reaching right into the heart of any human who ever loved an animal.  
Sarah wrote: “Alex has left us. That’s such a simple sentence but it means so much of a change for us.”
She continued, “We don't know how old Alex was. We know we first took him to our vet’s in 2000. Before 11 Sept. 01.

“Before the veterinarian who retired last year had been with our vet six months. Before Son1 got his first solo home. Before Son2 started high school. Alex came to us as a grown cat, maybe three, maybe five. Maybe somewhere in between.
“We know that when he came to us he'd been abandoned in a KMart parking lot.  

“We know we couldn't tell if Alex was a brown cat or a grey cat when he arrived. Turns out he was a white cat.
“My son, who found him, is sad today. My husband, who took him to the vet for the last time today, is sad.
“I am sad.
“Alex is resting better. Wobbie, K'Wan, Mischief and Samantha don't quite know what to think, for Alex, who's been here since long before any of them were born, has left us. Alex has no more trouble breathing, or arthritis, or difficulty getting to the litter box in time. He can hear again. He isn't suffering from diabetes
any more. But we all miss him.”

In a later note exchanged about this loss, Sarah wrote of the abandoned cat, “Alex made himself something the people who discarded him never imagined.
“It's just so ... odd ... that he's not here now. He's been here so long.”

And, she wrote, “I didn't realize one other thing about Alex. Because he came to us just a few years after we moved here, he is the last link to our ‘original’ cats, Kymba and Rushlight, and Kymba's kittens, and Tribble. I knew he had helped mentor our current generation, as well as Alastair and Bandit (aka Toes) because Lt Cdr McKitten, our silver-tux polydactyl, and Fiendy, our long-time silver-tuxedo indoor master-of-all mischief, spent their entire lives with Alex. 
“Kymba and Rushlight and the kittens were here first; Tribble and Alex came to us in the same year. I've written you about those folks before, I know. Bear, and TwoCat, and RedCat ... It feels as if something precious ended today. A bit of history, perhaps. Certainly, a generation of companions we cherished as delights.”
Later that first day without him, Sarah wrote of trying to “figure out how much I need to remember, and how many memories I owe to Alex.”

[LARRY ASIDE: “Memories I owe to Alex” — more powerful phrasing inspired by a rescued cat who, as Sarah wrote, “made himself something the people who discarded him never imagined.”
[Offer understanding and appreciation for Alex by emailing [email protected] — put ‘BLESS THE CATS’ in the subject line.]