Ode to my cat...my soulmate...or one of them!

My cat Bailey is the most wonderful being to be around. He's definitely one of my soulmates in this lifetime. I came home from some art classes this afternoon, and as he always does, he met me at the car. He followed me into the house, and followed me around until I'd changed into my shorts-and-Tshirt. Then I lifted him up and sat down on the couch holding him to my heart. The connection of love is so strong, and he never falters. His love is ALWAYS there, never questioning me or wondering where I'm coming from. We connect in Unconditional Love just sitting there, close.
HIs fur is so soft and his purr so healing. The best companion you could ever wish for. He even comes when I call...
I used to work at this cafe that was open until midnight with an outside patio and live music. The night I met Bailey, the cafe was packed outside. A lady came up to the window and said there's a stray cat in the crowd.
I went out to check him out, and he was an orange stripe and white, long-hair. I asked if anyone in her group was going to take him home, and she said no. I'm a sucker for orange cats and I had lost one three months earlier. The heart ache, and you doubt you can live through another loss!

I thawed out some slices of turkey to give him, but he didn't like turkey, so he went without.
I went in and out of the cafe all evening long, and every time, he was sitting on someone's lap and trying to go home with them. No one took mercy on him.

At the end of the evening, after clean up at 1:30 am, I was the only one left there--and the cat, sitting in the middle of the patio. He looked at me and I looked at him, and I said, "I guess it's you and me."
I had a truck at the time, so I loaded him up in the front and took off, realizing I had to stop at the all-night Walmart and get food and litter for him.
He slunk out of the truck as I opened the door at the store and started running across the empty parking lot at Walmart--a very bad place to be a stray kitty with lots of big roads all around it.
A guy tried to help me catch him, but we couldn't.
I felt really bad, and stood talking to the guy for a minute or two.
The next thing I knew, the cat came back, right up to me, and rubbed against my leg. I lifted him up into my arms and he rested there. It was as if he knew that I was his "saviour.". :)
He and I bonded right away, and have had 4 happy years so far. I don't know how old he is.
One twist... For about a year he was named Bella because I thought he was a girl, until one evening when he washed himself, I realized differently... Bella became Bailey... It was quite an exercise in rewiring my thinking... He took it all in stride because he doesn't care. He lives in the 5th dimension, and he's all LOVE.
What a great feeling to stick my face into his long soft fur and smell the woodsy scent of him. He just purrs...all is right in the world when you have a cat to remind you. :D