Elly, the cat.

Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened. by Anatole France

Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way. by John Muir

Sheyla loves Elly. Before she left for her mission, Sheyla would often come and get Elly and take her to her room at night. Elly loves Sheyla and would be with her more than the rest of us. Elly, will still sleep occasionally on Sheyla's bed. I know she misses her. Elly can be a silly cat. She does love people and attention. Sometimes if I'm lying on the bed watching tv, Elly will come up and walk up my body and plop right down on my chest with her face within inches of mine and fall asleep. She'll do that with everyone in the family. She also likes the newspaper and will just plop right down as you're reading the best comics! Elly and Addie have a love/hate relationship. They will sometimes chase each other (yes, the cat will sometimes chase the dog). Yet, they sometimes lie down next to each other and the cat will groom the dog. Often after coming out of my bathroom (yes, you have to walk through our closet to get to our bathroom), I will find both Elly and Addie sitting in the closet, waiting for me. I laugh every time.

Someone visited me recently, that was having a hard time. Elly, immediately jumped into her lap after she sat down on the couch. The girl, hesitantly at first, petted her back and it made the cat close her eyes. But I think, it was the girl that was comforted the most.