People continue to look for inspiration to give their lives purpose because, without a good reason to live, they won’t truly exist. And before this old man met his ginger cat, his world was grim and sad. For quite some time, he had been searching for someone to enter and transform his monotonous life. Fortunately, his cat eventually showed up, entered his world, and changed everything.

Jiji was a 94-year-old grandpa whose health was declining, and the family hadn’t seen a smile from him in a long time. Jiji has commuted to work every day since the war ended, but in 2009 he was admitted to the hospital. The once-jovial man gradually lost interest in life and turned into a grumpier version of himself.

“The doctor said he was sick. The once outgoing man gradually lost his interest in life and became grumpier than ever. It was around that time that I brought Kinako to live with us,” Akiko DuPont, the granddaughter, said via Boredpanda. And Kinako became a heroic feline who was responsible for saving the sickly old man.

When he first joined the family, Kinako was a little shy, but somehow he settled on Grandpa and would stick with him. “An extraordinary friendship gradually grew between the two. Who would have thought that a timid kitten would befriend a grumpy old man?”

Akiko is a photographer, and she loves taking pictures of her grandpa. “I’ve been photographing my grandfather, Jiji, since I had no clue how to use a camera,” shared Akiko. Scroll down to see the rest of their story through Akiko’s camera lens, and check out her website for more.

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