thanks @missy & @rambo for giving me a opportunity to talk about the love of my life (as I will take any)
This is my cat. She is part maine coon and part angel (I'm pretty sure). I joke that if I were to turn into an animal, I would just become one with my cat because we're already the same. She's the first pet I adopted and I was terrified that I would find a cat who didn't like me or pick the wrong name. I chose to adopt a cat after a cat I was very close to died, thus adding to the difficulty of the decision.
I found her in a part of the shelter designated for shy cats. I wanted an adult cat because they're less likely to be adopted, and shy cats are also less likely to be adopted, so I felt that was a good place to start. I didn't even see her at first, she was hiding in a cat tree. I could see she was mostly white with dark spots, lots of fluff, and huge scared eyes. Then, I read her file.
It turned out, she had a history of being abandoned and returned to the shelter after being adopted, as well as separated from her sister. All of these feelings resonated with my own history, especially because at the time, I had found stable housing that I felt okay in after more than a year. She needed a home and someone to love her, and she was terrified. Her file also said she was afraid of loud noises and strangers (two of my own fears). I kept thinking of how scared her eyes looked and how many other strangers would bother her if I didn't take her home right away, especially considering they might take her home just to bring her back to the shelter! In my emotional state, I developed an intense bond with this cat I hadn't even fully seen and decided I was in love with her.
Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to fill out the adoption paperwork, so I had to get her the next day. When the shelter interviewed me to make sure I was a good fit, they stressed that she is an extremely shy cat and may take weeks, even months, to warm up to me. This is part of what led to her being returned previously, so they were very concerned. However, I was already in love with her and so I got to take her home.
She was, of course, terrified. After she got examined and I finished the paperwork, they put a towel over her carrier so she would not get overwhelmed and we went home. When she came out of the carrier, I saw she had beautiful orange brown spots in addition to her black ones, so I named her after my favorite candy: Reeses. I left her alone in my room for half an hour, ad when I came back, she was purring and marking me with her scent! She even let me give her belly rubs and slept in my bed her first night (and every night since.
