I moved into an apartment and saw the enormous amount of stray, maybe feral, cats nearby. I began to feed them twice a day. I fell in love with a black male cat who used to come in my apartment and share a meal with me!! He was awesome, and I noticed he had a beautiful white/black female at his side outside and four kittens. My heart melted.

On a Sunday evening, he came and I knew something was wrong but did not know what, so I took him to an emergency vet. He had been hit by a car and had no bleeding or marks visible, but very serious internal bleeding and injuries, and he could not be saved. I cried the whole night and in the morning, I couldn’t believe there were four kittens meowing at my door. So I scooped them up and brought them in (no pets were allowed here) and later that day a neighbor told me she saw the two cats (a black cat and his “wife”) get hit. So I decided I was keeping them all and rented a house and took them with me, and they were awesome!! I lost the last one, Sam,who was the BEST cat I ever had, five years ago—he was 15. We all had a great life and allowed a few more in that also needed homes. Never a dull moment or a full checking account again!! But it was the best thing I’ve done in many years. (The picture is of Sam.)