Elwing Baggins was born under our neighbor's house in 1996, the smallest of a litter by a feral neighborhood cat. The kittens began to sleep on the wicker furniture on our front porch; when Dan left for work, they would all run away, except for Elwing.

Since she was the smallest, she had a hard time getting enough to eat from her mother, so Dan began to leave food on the porch for her, and gradually they became friends. When it started getting cold, the others disappeared, but she stayed around, so Dan brought her in one night. She's been a cuddly little friend ever since. And she's definitely *my* cat ;-)