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It was Christmas Eve 2009 when my Ollie chose me.

I was a single, fairly new first-time homeowner of a fixer upper on a tight budget. Earlier that day, I realized that I had punctured a hole in my car's tire, which led to the unplanned purchase of two new tires at my local Sears Auto Center. My dad had dropped me off at Sears so I could pick up my car with the new tires, then follow him to my parents' house so as to leave for Christmas Eve mass together.

I took a spontaneous detour to the pet shop across the street from Sears. I had adopted two adult female shelter cats from that store earlier in the year and decided that they needed some more toys. It was after 5 p.m., and there were few people in the store before closing time. As soon as I walked in, a store clerk approached me, and I groaned inwardly as I had planned to run in and run out to avoid being late to my parents' house. She asked me if I needed help. I responded, "No, I'm just here to get some cat toys."

PHOTO: JENNIFER BURK

She was not to be deterred. In a thick southern accent uncommon for northeast Ohio, she said, "We have two APL cats, one's a year old and the other is 8. He's been here awhile, and he's real sweet," with emphasis on the last part. Sigh. "Okay," I said to myself, "I can give some attention to shelter cats and be on my way." So I followed her. When I approached the cages, I saw a sleeping calico and a big, long-haired black and white cat, who instantly stood up as I approached. He put his pink nose through the mesh cage. I opened the latch. He immediately came out of the cage, flopped into my arms, and blinked at me. That was it.

"I'll take him," came out of mouth within 20 seconds.

So, as the pet store closed, I filled out adoption paperwork, paid his $20 adoption fee, and left with a cat in a cardboard box, bound for my parents' house. They were surprised, to say the least!

PHOTO: JENNIFER BURK

By bedtime that night, my new friend, later named Ollie, crashed on my pillow like he had lived there his entire life. He became not only my closest friend, but later adopted my future husband and oldest daughter.

Ollie would greet us at the door, often sleepy from a nap, chirp at us in conversation (he would respond, too), sleep on my head most nights, and watch late night movies with my husband. He would also look after our daughter when she was a baby like someone had hired him for the job, and later tried to teach her how to crawl by demonstrating the army crawl. Never in my lifetime of owning a cat have I met a cat who was so seemingly human.

We had eight wonderful years together until we lost Ollie to a stroke not long after our second daughter was born. We tried everything, but there was nothing we could do to save him. To say he was mourned would be an understatement.

PHOTO: JENNIFER BURK

Still, we were so lucky to have him. There is nothing like being chosen by a cat. It's a gift, especially on Christmas Eve.

Story submitted by Jennifer Burk.

This story was originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Share your very own rescue story here!