I was adopted by a barn kitten that looked almost exactly like the one in the photo. I called him Tigger, for the rings on his tail.
I was on my porch the day Mama first brought the kittens out from the neighbors barn. This little orange furball decided to climb the steps to see if it should fight me, or eat me. After I while, it fell asleep in my lap, and he stayed there the next ten years.
He never acclimated to the wife or daughter, and was sometimes even hostile with them.
I was traveling a LOT in those days, and after I would leave, he’d park himself in my office desk chair, and only come downstairs for food. Within a couple of hours of arriving home, on no set schedule, he would leap from the chair, and just wait by the front door for me to arrive. After that, it was kitty playtime again.
I do miss the little guy, a lot.
There’s another kitty out there waiting for you, if you want to find it.
Sweet story!