Boots, a pretty, spayed, tuxedo-wearing lady, used to quietly, politely approach shelter visitors, just the way that she’d welcomed her person home for nine years. Then Boots waited to be rewarded with a kind word or a chin rub. But shelter visitors always looked at kittens, toddling or tumbling. Boots waited, but her turn never came.

Now Boots has waited longer than any shelter animal. Now Boots sits queen-like on a cat tree, watching. She’s afraid watching others live is all that’s left. Yet Boots offers so much. She’s through the leaping on counters, shredding curtains phase. Instead, she knows to be comforting for her person.

That awareness takes time to develop. For someone whose days are busy and demanding, Boots makes home a sanctuary.