This story was originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Submit your own rescue story here. Your story just might be the next to be featured on our blog!

My mother was wheelchair-bound and was in assisted living for three years before her death in 2013. Looking to fill the void after her passing, I decided to volunteer at our local city animal shelter. I went to the shelter every Friday morning at 8 a.m. to clean the cat cages, give the cats fresh water, fill their food dish, and hopefully have time to brush each one.

When you enter the cat room at 8 a.m., the cats start meowing loudly. The shelter is closed 16 hours a day and they are ready for their time out of the cage and for human contact. All of the cats would be yelling when I came in, except one little tuxedo cat in the upper lefthand corner cage.

She would sit patiently in the back of the cage, but would "converse" with me if I talked directly to her. When I let her out of the cage, she wouldn't run wild all over the room as the others would do; she would sit and watch as I worked.

Hazel's story was that she was abandoned in an apartment when the tenant moved out. I wondered how long she had been there, without food or water, scared, wondering what was going on. Week after week, she would be in that upper left corner cage when I would come to volunteer. One day, I said, "Why isn't someone adopting this great cat?" I think I had to say those words out loud in order to know the answer - I was someone!

I already had two cats and had always had just two cats. What would be the harm in having three? So, I adopted her that day! I named her Hazel Grace after a character in a popular book but also because of her beautiful green eyes and due to the fact she has definitely graced our lives. Hazel Grace loves to sit next to you in a chair and sleeps right in the center of our bed at night. My whole family loves her!

Story submitted by Mary from Emporia, Kansas.

This story was originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Share your very own rescue story here!