It was a brisk October afternoon when Marissa Eller decided to sit on her front porch for a few minutes. She expected to have some quiet time, assuming she was alone, but someone secretly lurked in the distance.

Moments later, a tabby cat with white paws appeared on her driveway. Eller recognized the cat, whom her family had seen roaming around the neighborhood. They initially thought he was part of a known stray colony in the woods, but his behavior when he showed up at her house that day suggested otherwise.

Instead of running away at the sound of Eller’s voice like a feral cat would, this little guy confidently sauntered towards her.

“I started calling for him, and he yelled back at me relentlessly,” Eller told The Dodo. “He came up to me and let me pet him, and then he sat down next to me on the porch step and climbed in my lap.”

Eller was stunned by the cat’s interest in her. Despite her limited experience with cats at the time, she knew his instant comfort around her was unusual.

“He did that head-butting thing that I didn't know at the time was a typical cat behavior because I'd literally never been around a cat before,” Eller said. “You can see in my face in that photo that I'm shocked at how he responded to a stranger.”

The cat, later named Boots, won Eller over, and she begged her family to keep him. Her mom agreed, but her grandmother and father refused to live with a cat. So, Eller and her mom would spend as much time outside with Boots, who became a recurring visitor, as possible.

Until one day, her grandmother had a change of heart.

“As it got colder, my grandmother came home one day and found my mom and I out on the deck in our coats, hanging out with Boots,” Eller said. “She thought that was ridiculous and told us just to bring the cat inside.”

Eller took Boots inside, and he quickly made himself at home. For a while, he still had access to go outside if he wanted to. But after some time, he decided that staying indoors with his new family was best.

“He was always ours, even before he was exclusively inside,” Eller said.

Soon after Boots’ arrival, Eller learned the heartbreaking truth about his past.

“He had been abandoned by previous owners, just left outside to fend for himself after they got a puppy,” Eller said. “That’s why he was roaming around the neighborhood aimlessly.”

Boots’ previous family sadly betrayed him, but that didn’t stop him from loving humans. He connected instantly with Eller, which shocked her even more after learning the truth.

“He was remarkably trusting,” Eller said. “It’s always seemed so incredible to me that he walked right up to me like he did, after what people had done to him. He loves people, and I think he has golden retriever energy.”

In addition to loving and loyal, Eller described Boots as being “chaotic, but in a way that comes from a place of love.”

Just as Boots’ life changed after meeting his new family, so did Eller’s. Seven years later, she can’t imagine life without him.

“He's become a source of endless emotional support and boundless joy. I don't really have words for how he's changed my life for the better,” Eller said. “He's become so deeply special to me that I struggle to describe it.”

But Boots hasn’t just stolen Eller’s heart. He constantly elicits the same amount of love from everyone he encounters.

“Everyone loves him,” Eller said. “Cat sitters, my friends and family, the vet, thousands of people on Twitter. He brings me so much joy, but I truly love that he brings that joy to other people everywhere he goes."

The sweet boy has enjoyed spending the last seven years by Eller's side and looks forward to many more. For Boots, the only thing better than making his mom laugh with his antics is snuggling up with her at the end of the day.

“He's still deeply chaotic. Just this week, he's stuck his paw in my soup, knocked over a couple of trash cans and made several messes,” Eller said. “He keeps me on my toes, and he ends every night by snuggling his not-insignificant weight up on my chest.”

Eller wasn’t expecting to gain a family member when she sat on her porch that afternoon seven years ago. But looking back on it now, she believes it was a matter of fate.

“I absolutely feel like he chose us, rather than the other way around, and we are all so much better off for it,” Eller said.