Animals enter our lives and stay in our hearts forever. That’s especially true for Ella and Nella, two tuxedo cats adopted by their guardian, Grace, in 2001 and 2016. Although they never met, Ella and Nella’s stories are connected by love and demonstrate the power of adoption.
Ella’s story
In the spring of 2001, Grace adopted a tuxedo cat named Ella from an animal shelter in Ithaca, New York. From the beginning, Ella moved through life with a calm confidence. She explored balconies like a tightrope artist, greeted guests like a seasoned host, and took her seat at the table as if she had always belonged there.
Grace explains that Ella had a gift for connection. Friends who insisted they were not cat people often found themselves converted after Ella perched on their chest, purring inches from their face.
During the holidays, her personality sparkled even brighter. One Christmas, she transformed an empty Amazon box into a custom-designed bed after carefully chewing the cardboard into a curved headrest. Her creativity was so noteworthy that it later earned her first place for Most Unusual Behavior at Cornell Vet School’s “Feline Follies.”
Ella traveled cross-country with Grace to settle into a sunlit life in the Bay Area. Even as kidney failure weakened her body, her spirit remained strong. She still found her favorite patch of sunlight by the sliding glass door, choosing warmth and leisure whenever she could.
When Ella passed away, her absence left a hole in Grace’s heart. Her resilience and her devotion to Grace left a lasting imprint. For a long time, the idea of adopting another cat felt impossible.
Nella’s story
On December 16, 2016, Grace went to San Francisco to see a performance of The King and I at the Golden Gate Theatre before visiting Macy’s Holiday Windows. While Grace was admiring the puppies and kittens playing in the windows, a volunteer mentioned that there were more kittens inside. That’s where she met a little kitten named Nella.
At first, Grace was struck by how similar Nella’s name was to Ella’s. Then she saw that, like Ella, Nella was a tuxedo cat with a distinctive white stripe down her nose. The resemblance was uncanny, and it was love at first sight. With care and kindness from the San Francisco SPCA team, the adoption was finalized and Nella went home.
As a kitten, Nella was playful, curious, and endlessly inventive. Now at nine years old, her guardian explains that “she’s more mellow, but still sweet and entertaining.” And like Ella before her, she has claimed the same favorite sunlit spot by the sliding glass door, stretching out in the warmth to continue the tradition.
Ella and Nella never met, yet their stories are intertwined, linked by sunlit windows and the joy that adoption can bring.