This is my tiniest love, Ellie (also known as Elle-Belle):

She is, as you see, very, very special.  😂

Ellie was taken from a cat hoarding (and, clearly, inbreeding) situation when she was one year old, and went to live at an SPCA an hour or so from me. She stayed there for three years.

Not because she’s wall-eyed and her tongue always sticks out and she has literally (literally) two paws at the end of both her front legs — that’s actually weirdly adorable — but because she was absolutely terrified of people. Whenever anyone came to the SPCA to adopt a cat, Ellie wouldn’t look at them or let them touch her. And nobody wants a cat like that. 💔

When I saw her picture posted on Facebook, it was accompanied by a description that said stuff like “She might let you pet her a little once you get to know her.”

Well, I knew what that meant.

When I was in college I adopted a cat who had been abused and, no joke, that cat lived under the bed, and only came out at night to eat. It was easily a year before I ever saw her out and about in the daylight, and she was never a cat that would sit with you or do any more than tolerate being petted.

So I took one look at Ellie and said, “I don’t care if she lives under the furniture for the next ten years; she’s not living at that shelter anymore.”

And after a lot of negotiating with my landlord (I already had 2 cats), Ellie came to live with me. And she did live under the furniture, never coming out if anyone was awake — for about a week.

Then she started coming out at night, when my older daughter was up late playing video games, and creeping around. Then a couple of weeks after that, she started coming out in the day. Within a month, I could pet her, followed quickly by my older daughter and then my younger daughter.

Within 6 months, I could scoop her up in my arms if she didn’t see me coming (LOL), and she would fall asleep there.

Now? She sleeps with me, curled up on the other pillow, every night. She has a bed right on my desk, so she can keep me company all day. She climbs into everyone’s lap and demands to be petted.

All she ever needed was for someone to give her a chance.

And that is the story of Elle-Belle. 💖