As long as it’s February, it’s still winter. But the cats of Tabby’s Place would like to distract you from that with something shiny: the ongoing march of the Valentine’s month love stories.

Today we revel in the magic of a little girl and her meant-to-be orange-and-white guy. Big thanks to Elias’ 12-year-old AwesomeAdopter for the following sweet prose and even-sweeter photos.

“The moment I saw that orange and white mix, I knew he was going to be ours.

“It was a Tuesday afternoon, and we got an excruciating call from our vet. Our 5-year-old cat was diagnosed with some type of lung cancer. He only had several days to live. Being the brave one, I did not want him to suffer, and I convinced my family to put him to sleep. The next month was a very sad and lonely month; at least, I was lonely.

“It was 2 months after Chester’s death when I decided to start searching for kittens. I looked on Petfinder, in cat magazines, and in local pet stores, but I could not find anything. Then we decided to call Tabby’s Place. They said they had rescued kittens on Halloween night. The kittens were all being treated for ringworm. So, the next day, my mom, brother, dad and I took the trip down to Tabby’s Place to look at the kittens.

“Danielle helped my mom and me to “gown up” to hold the kittens in the Ringworm quarantine area. There were two short-haired orange kittens and one long-haired, and then three gray-and-black ones who were already spoken for. Danielle took out the first orange kitten. He was cute, but he wasn’t going to do it for me. Then she pulled out the long-haired orange one. The moment I saw that orange-and-white mix, I knew he was going to be ours. Right away I said to my mom, ‘This is the one!’

“We were told that we could not bring him home until he’d been cured of ringworm. This took about a month. We brough Elias home on the first Tuesday in January.

“We brought Elias into our living room, and he would not come out of his cat carrier. It had been about an hour, and I just needed to hold him. So I coaxed him out and snuggled him. Then he jumped out of my arms and carefully started exploring the blocked-off area of the living room.

“Each day, when my mom came home from work, Elias was hiding in a different place. Sometimes he was under the chair, behind the couch, or behind a pillow. His favorite place was in a tunnel that was created between the edges of a chair and the couch. Elias was very shy, so we had to let him come to us. We could not approach him.

“It took a little over a week for Elias to get used to the blocked-off area. He eventually jumped over the wall we’d built for him, and began exploring the upstairs. There was no turning back then!

“It’s only February, and we have now had Elias for just over a month. He is a changed kitty. He comes to us now, plays like crazy, and snuggles with me when I go to sleep at night. He waits for me outside the bathroom door when I get ready for school in the morning. He eats and drinks all the time, and is growing like a weed. He has brought so many smiles and laughs to me, my brother, my mom, and even my dad.

“Elias has made my sadness go away, and has filled the lonely hole in my heart.”

Some things are so perfect, you can’t make them up: the initials of the young lady who wrote this love story are – I kid you not - A.W.

All together now, for Awesome A.W. and Elias: awwwwwwww!

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