On January 11 this year I lost my cat, Patch. If it's possible for an animal to be considered a soul-mate, he was certainly mine. He struggled with heart complications (he had a heart twice the size of a normal heart... both literally and figuratively) and arthritis problems for the last two years I had him, but I don't regret a minute of it.

I found him a little over four years ago when I was out walking with my family in our neighborhood. He came running straight towards me and jumped up in my arms. I put him down thinking that he must have belonged to another family and hoped he would run back home when we left, but he started walking behind us. We decided that maybe, if we started running, he would get tired of following and head back to his home. So we picked up the pace, and so did he.

He managed to follow us all the way back to the house, so my mother and I took him in the car to drive back to where we first saw him. I opened the door and he jumped out, running towards another house. We went back home, hoping that he made it home safely and not thinking too much of it.

The next morning I went downstairs to get some breakfast and heard a noise outside of the front door. Sure enough, there he was, waiting on the doormat. Looking back, I can honestly say that was one of the best days of my life, even if I didn't know it at the time.

Anyway, getting back to the point... losing him was one of the hardest things I've ever gone through. I've lost grandparents and friends before, so I don't know why it was so much harder. He left a massive void in my heart and I cried day and night after he was gone. For a while I was certain the pain would never go away.

So, after a couple of weeks, my boyfriend and I started talking about getting another animal. We didn't want a REPLACEMENT, of course, just another family member to love. We went to a nearby animal shelter to look at some of the dogs that had been rescued. We had decided on getting a dog because I wasn't ready for another cat. Patch was so perfect for me, I worried that I would unfairly hold other cats up to his standard and I didn't think that would be right.

After we finished looking through all of the dogs, we walked past the building where all the cats were sheltered (there were several windows in the cat's rooms that looked out on the walkway). A beautiful white cat with shocking blue eyes caught my attention and I decided to go look inside. I found his room and went in to pet him but he seemed disinterested. However, this BEAUTIFUL and incredibly soft long-haired cat with crystal blue eyes came running up to me purring loudly and rubbing on my hand. I was shocked by how sweet and excited it was to see me. I played with the cat for a few minutes then decided to go back home.

For two weeks, that cat kept popping back into my thoughts. Finally, after one really bad tear-filled night, I got online and found the shelter's website. I flipped through almost 100 pictures before I found one that I was pretty sure was the one I had seen. It was a small, one year-old female lynx point Siamese named Jolie. The next morning I woke up early, went back to the shelter, found her and filled out the application to take her home.

I know someone said that they have noticed a "healing" sense with their lynx points. It may not be in the same manner that they mentioned, but Jolie has mended my heart in a way that I didn't think possible. She has filled me back up with more joy than I ever thought I could contain. While I still desperately miss Patch, I never would have found Jolie if he hadn't passed when he did. I know now that everything happens for a reason, and that even the painful things can eventually lead to something really amazing if just given the chance.

When I get the right forum access I'll post a picture for you of Patch and Jolie. I never knew there were many cats out there like her so it's really exciting to see all the pictures you guys have posted. It's actually uncanny how much tumsIU's kitty looks like Jolie. I saw the picture you posted and it took me by surprise.

Anyway, there's my story about finding my beautiful lynx point (sorry it was so long).

- Eliae