Many years ago, there was a beautiful little ginger cat that appeared seemed to like coming into my house for some food. He was very young and not much more than a kitten really. I assumed that he lived nearby but I loved his company whenever he came in and looked forward to seeing him. Then one night, on coming home from the pub, I found him lying dead underneath my hedge. (I assume that he'd been hit by a car). I was really upset and, even more so when I found out from others in the street (whom he'd occasionally visited too) that he was a stray, with no home of his own. I'd have loved to have him as my own if I'd have known :(
A week or two later I was driving past an independent animal shelter about an hour away from my home and found myself thinking about getting a rescue cat. After a few miles, I turned back and went to enquire about the possibility. They'd got a beautiful fluffy little girl cat, who was totally adorable, but I said that I'd like time to think about adopting her (particularly as I didn't have a cat carrier with me or anything like a cat bed or litter tray at home).
A day or two later (after buying various cat requisites and a pet carrier) I phoned to ask if she was still available for adoption and, upon being told that she was, I set out on my hour's drive to collect her. When I got there though, they told me that someone else had just beaten me to it. I asked if they'd got any other cats and was told "We've only got a big, black male cat, called Sharka. He's absolutely massive but incredibly affectionate".
I asked to see him and held him in my arms. Knowing that black cats are the hardest to find adopters for, I felt incredibly sorry for him and decided to take him home with me. He brought me incredible happiness for many years after that ;-)