I live in a condo community and have 3 cats that I love dearly. They are so much more than pets, they're my babies! I have a screened in porch with a small outside patio and steps leading to the yard. There has been a small cat around the area for over a year. She was a stray and was just beautiful, mixed pale gray, golden brown and white with big green eyes. It broke my heart that this baby was on her own and not being loved by anyone. I started putting bowls of water and food out for her. She would be on my patio and I would talk to her through the screen door as she ate. She would look at me like she understood what I was saying, and that I wouldn't hurt her. She would run down the steps into the yard until I filled her food bowl, then once I went through the screen door and back onto the porch, she would run up and eat. I would stand at the screen door and talk to her. She had gotten to the point where she would go down only 2 steps and stopped running from me. She kept me out of arm's reach but was trusting me a little more! She would even come if I called Kitty, kitty. The last few months, when I went onto the porch, she would stand on her hind legs with her front ones on the screen, and she would talk to me! I fell in love with her...wanted to rub those little ears and scratch her back so bad!! I had hoped she would come to trust me and I'd be able to love on her and show her that all people are not bad. I had not seen for for a couple of days, and this morning one of my neighbors knocked on my door. She had found the little gray cat dead. I have a small garden in the backyard, so I dug a grave and moved her back there. I finally was able to rub those sweet little ears and down her back as I said goodbye. Poor baby never had a name, or belonged to anyone but herself, but I hope she knows she was loved and is being grieved. I loved her and am honoring her memory and how she touched my life here. I can't think of anything more appropriate.