[stomachmonkey]

Took my feral about 5-6 years to stop running away when he saw me.

The whole time he was an awesome beast.

Clean, quite, never scratched a thing other than his scratching posts, no trouble at all.

One day he hoped on the couch and onto my lap.

No idea why or what changed his mind about me.

Mind you the entire time he was very affectionate with my kids.

Never ran from them and always sought their attention so just because he behaves that way with you does not mean he'll behave that way with others.

I suspect it was a size thing. When we got him I was the biggest one in the house and naturally the kids the smallest. Seems his attitude towards me gradually got better as the size equalized.

I know what it's like, we also volunteer for a rescue group specifically working to socialize cats so they are more adoptable.

Good luck.