I adopted George from NHS 10 years ago when he was roughly 7 years old. Uni and I went to NHS to find a friend for Rambo, and we went on one of their cat days where every cat had waived adoption fees. We waited for hours, and by the time it was our turn, they ran out of cats. The only one left was this grumpy gray long-haired old man who was just done with people that day, so they wouldn't let us meet him. They knew we were waiting so long and felt guilty to send us away empty-handed. That's when the counselor had an idea. There was this one cat; he was almost ready to go on the floor, they just needed to finish up some paperwork. So she went to talk to her supervisor, who gave the approval for us to meet him. It was George.

George had 17 years of being loved across three different families. He found his final home with Jamie, Rambo, and myself. He was there with me when we lost Jamie and then Rambo. I've always been so grateful George was the one to survive everyone because I couldn't have made it through without him. I try to remind myself now that I did everything I could for him and would have fought for anything to keep him here for one more day.

Life will never feel the same without him. I'm asking for help in covering George's final life care. With his sister Olive just coming to our household, there's been a lot of expenses and changes to welcome her. I would spend every penny a thousand times over to make sure George was comfortable in the end. He passed with his chin in his favorite second resting spot after his own arm: mine.

George was everyone's best friend; they just didn't know it yet. His entire life's mission was to make as many people aware of that fact as he could. I regret he only had contact with his new sister through the door. I know he wanted to meet her so much, and yesterday was supposed to be that day. We don't know what the future holds for us. All we can do is make the most of every day and give a small piece of ourselves to those little lives who deserve it far more than we do. We do the best we can, and that's all anyone can ask for.

Anything anyone can contribute right now helps. Even if we don't meet the goal, please know that anything does help. Sometimes all we have is our words and our memories. That means the world too. Please feel free to share with me your favorite story about George or your own favorite photo. Nothing would make me happier than witnessing all the love the world had for George.