From my childhood:
Shorty: Longhaired Chi/pomeranian mix
My aunt had him and his mom, and I kept begging her to let me have him. I loved him so much. We bonded immediately. She let me have him. He and I did everything together. In fact, if my mom wanted to spank me she had to physically restrain Shorty to do so. He loved me so much. I miss him tremendously, even 23 years after his death. He had liver failure.

Tommie T: Tuxedo kitty
Tom-tom was a stray we started feeding my junior year of high school. We took him in and got him fixed and released him back out. He stayed around though. One morning momma started the car to take me to school and we heard him screaming. He was in the engine compartment. He slinked off and mom made me go to school anyway. She went home, found him and rushed to the vet. He lived, blind in one eye. After that he became an inside/garage kitty. He was so funny. If he didn't think he got enough attention, he'd walk up and bite momma on the butt (if she was sitting) so she'd pet him. Mom loved him so much. He was going on 18 when he passed away.

Little T: black/white kitty
She was another stray. She never grew up. She stayed the size of about a year old kitten her whole 5 years on earth. She ate a poisonous plant one year, and died in momma's arms. Mom was devastated.

From my adult life:
Twinkie Boo. You can read his memorial in the memorial section. He was so special. He was mine and my ex's first "together" kitty.

Harvey Bear: flame point himalayan (mix)
He was beautiful... he was Tater Tot's kitty. LOL They were best buddies. He was not a touchy feely kitty at all though... didn't want anyone to pet him unless he went to them. He was only about 9 when he died. Not sure how he died, he lived with my brother after I moved to Phoenix... my brother found him gone one morning.

Tater Tot: chihuahua
Tater Tot was the sweetest dog... I wrote a story about him once in dog general. He stayed with my mom when I moved to Phoenix... and was her best friend and was with her at the end. He gave her so much comfort that nobody else could. He was just happy-go-lucky all the time. Nobody ever frowned with him around.

There are more, but those are the main ones. We had a lot of animals when I was a child... mom instilled a love of animals in her kids (me mostly) and she brought home all the strays that needed love. I guess that's why I do it.