The city couple got an even better early Christmas present six days later.

“After a long, difficult and emotional fight through my second diagnosis of cancer … as of today I can officially say I am a warrior who battled and won!! I am in remission and as of now cancer free!!” Genco said on Facebook recently. “Nothing can top the amount of feelings I have as I am writing this. The amount of support, love and prayers was overwhelming and I can’t thank everyone enough. I also want to say a huge thank you to my wonderful family, friends and amazing hospital staff who I grew so close with. I couldn’t have done any of this without them.”

The Post-Journal shared Genco’s story earlier this year as fundraisers began to help Genco after her diagnosis. We revisit it today along with four other stories about our friends and neighbors that resonated with readers this year.

For Genco, during her time fighting cancer twice and also dating Crandall, her fiance, a former Post-Journal sportswriter who underwent a heart transplant after his heart transplant in 2018, she said she has learned to try and keep a positive outlook on life.

Pictured is Cody Crandall and Meagan Genco, a local couple who has been facing a series of health struggles, including Genco’s second round of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

“The biggest thing for me personally between dating him with everything he went through and my own health struggles is to try and approach life with a positive outlook,” Genco said. “Don’t stress the little things. This has given me a new perspective. Bad things happen but you do the best you can with what you’re given. I think it has made our relationship stronger.”

With Genco and Crandall being in their 20s, life has changed more for them than what people might normally experience at that age. Genco said normally someone in their 20s is looking for jobs and things like that, instead of being given this type of news. Crandall said it has been very hard for both of them.

“It’s a tough situation for both of us, especially finding ways to balance our work lives, personal lives and health challenges,” Crandall said. “The support we have been given by family and friends has helped and we really appreciate all of the prayers and support.”

The overall health situations for both Crandall and Genco have taught them a lot about what is important to focus on in life.

“I think it’s a good lesson that sometimes life knocks you down, maybe more drastically for us than others, but you have to get back up again,” Crandall said. “There are things in life worth fighting for. Seize each day and take advantage of the time you have with your loved ones. Live life to the fullest.”

Nora and Michael Ludwig are pictured with the pile of their letters in between them. Submitted photo

Along similar lines, Genco said she has learned to not take anything for granted, including any day, moment or person. She added that nothing is guaranteed and young or old anything can happen.

“Anything can happen in the blink of an eye, whether it’s cancer, a heart transplant, or even a car accident,” Genco said. “Don’t sweat the small stuff, and take and appreciate each day.”

For those in a similar situation to Genco or Crandall, she said to never feel ashamed or scared of being in that situation or story. She added to never feel like you are alone in your struggles.

“If you try to go it alone you end up going to a dark place and that makes it worse,” Genco said. “Don’t say ‘why me, and at this age?’ Realize there are others going through the same thing. Being negative does nothing but hurt you.”

Adding on to that, Crandall said to make sure to always be an advocate for yourself if you think something is wrong.

“It’s ok not to be ok,” Crandall said. “Listen to your body if something doesn’t feel right, and get it checked out. Listen to your doctors and advocate for yourself.”

FALCON THROUGH AND THROUGH

Readers flocked to the story of a Falconer Golden Falcon who was about to become a Falcon of a different feather at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Aidan McCleery actually had to miss his high school graduation, but was honored by the school at an Awards Ceremony where McCleery received his appointment to the Air Force by Col. Andrew Carlson, a 1999 graduate of Panama Central School.

McCleery made the decision to join the Air Force after graduation because of watching both of his parents serve their country. His father was a pilot for 20 years and his mother was an air traffic control officer.

“Watching them, I got to see what serving looks like,” McCleery said. “I want to do something that is bigger than myself and bigger than what I could imagine on my own.”

McCleery described finding out he was accepted to the Air Force academy as an “unreal” feeling. He was heading to the gym early on a Tuesday morning before school when he opened his email and saw the acceptance letter.

“When I opened my email and saw the letter, there was a weight lifted off of my chest,” McCleery said. “I knew I was set for the rest of my life. I knew deep down that everything was going to work out and for the next nine years I will have a job and be able to be successful and live the life I want to live.”

Having a student accepted into the Air Force Academy is exciting for Falconer school as well, McCleery said, adding that as far as he knew he was the first person from Falconer to be accepted. As a small school, McCleery said Falconer can still produce some amazing students, not just him but his whole class as well.

“We might not have as many AP classes or as many students but we have a school and the staff that give students what they need,” McCleery said. “I hope my journey can show that things like this don’t just happen in large schools. It’s not just myself but also my classmates that will go on to do amazing things. I want to make sure people know Falconer is an amazing place to grow up, learn and live.”

GOOD SAMARITANS HELP DEER PULLED FROM CHADAKOIN

A young deer that found itself in the Chadakoin River got back onto solid ground with the help of a good Samaritan.

Jeff Huckelberry came across the wildlife while walking his dogs on the Riverwalk at McCrea Point Park. He learned from another man, Tom Shea, that the deer had been in the water for some time and was struggling to find a way out.

“I told Jeff the poor thing was swimming back and forth and couldn’t get out of the water,” Shea told The Post-Journal.

Huckelbery went to the park side of the river and, putting one leg into the Chadakoin for leverage, managed to get the deer onto the shore. “I put one foot in and grabbed them,” he said afterward. “I kind of had to come up and surprise them a little to grab on.”

Another bystander quickly provided blankets for the shivering animal.

Gregory Fye, the city’s animal control officer, responded to the park after learning of the distressed deer.

I LOVE THIS BAR, IT’S MY KIND OF PLACE

J. Paul Lombardo, a longtime Post-Journal columnist, penned a column earlier this year that resonated with thousands of readers about Jeff Waddington shortly after Waddington’s passing.

Lombardo met Waddington after learning Waddington was a Cleveland Browns fan, and Lombardo was interested in hosting Browns Backers of Jamestown, N.Y., game-day events at the Falconer tavern. Waddington said yes, and a beautiful friendship was born.

“In the years we’ve become very close friends and we found out what an amazing person was Jeff Waddington,” Lombardo wrote in his column. “To say he’d give you the shirt off his back if you ever needed it, would be an understatement. Jeff would open the bar on days like Christmas Eve, or Thanksgiving, etc., but would be closed at certain times on those days for his family to come in, dine, and celebrate, and he always invited people he knew were going to be alone on those days, so they could celebrate too. He sponsored so many events to help bring people together to have fun and raise money for kids and school teams and classes, he’d have envelopes, sometimes three or four at a time with tickets to sell to customers helping many groups give as much as they could to kids and other community programs. Jeff’s dad, Jack passed away about eleven years ago, and Jeff’s son, Jack was born 10 years ago, and with all due respect to the name Jack, Jeff was a true “Jack of All Trades” to everyone who set foot in his home away from home. … The streets of our community are a little emptier today, with the passing of Jeff Waddington. Prayers and condolences to all of his family, friends, anyone who knew him because they did, and anyone who didn’t know him because they didn’t. Yes, the streets of our world are more empty, but Main Street in Heaven just got busier and more crowded. Rest In Peace, Boss! We love you.”

A BEAUTIFUL STORY

A final story that resonated with readers this year was that of a local couple looking for any information on what may have happened to their love letters that have been left inside the floorboards of a specific room at the Peek’n Peak Resort in Clymer over the last 18 years.

The couple, Nora and Michael Ludwig, got married at the Peek and have celebrated their anniversary there ever since. This has included the tradition of leaving love letters to each other in the room where they spent their wedding night. This year, when they returned to the resort to celebrate their 18th anniversary the letters were gone.

“We always knew there was a chance of someone finding the letters and throwing them out, I just prayed it wouldn’t happen,” Nora Ludwig said. “When I opened the door to the room last weekend and saw new flooring, I stopped dead in my tracks. The letters were gone and part of the magic died.”

The Ludwigs met after three different parties were trying to have them meet without anyone knowing. Ludwig said her husband knew she was his “dream girl when he heard I had three jobs, graduated from college and went to church.” The pair had their first date at Tim Hortons, so Ludwig said the restaurant now equals love, and that their life has been an adventure ever since.

Ludwig said their wedding was also an adventure, involving only close relatives and friends. They sent packages to each guest with ski rentals, lift passes, massage and pool passes along with a walkie talkie and after saying “I do” the Ludwigs “hopped on the ski lift and skied down in all our finery at Peek ‘n Peak.”

Michael Ludwig was the one who came up with the idea to leave love letters to each other on the pair’s wedding night. The Ludwigs stayed in the Honeymoon Suite at the Peek on their wedding night, which Ludwig said was a beautiful, English style room with a fireplace. The Ludwigs also own their wedding bed because the Peek was doing renovations and said they could have both the bed and the dresser. That first night in the room the love letter tradition was born.

“On that first night, Michael said we should write love letters and hide them in our room and see if they are there the following year,” Ludwig said. “I was cranky and just wanted to go — it was super early in order to catch a flight for goodness sake. He told me I would appreciate it later and he wasn’t wrong. The first few years we hid them under a dresser drawer. One year a cleaning woman signed off on them and put them back. After the room renovations, we changed the location to underneath the dresser.”

Since that first night the Ludwigs have written love letters to each other every year except during Covid. They would read the letters out loud to each other every year.

“It was a beautiful story of our lives together,” Ludwig said. “All of our hopes and dreams. All of our pain and struggles. We were able to remember the sweet memories of buying a house, having children, the death of a parent, and how the ‘State of the Union’ really was between us.”

The Peek’n Peak has always been special for them, Ludwig said. Each time they go back it is a different experience, but one of the things that never changed was checking into the same room and seeing if the letters were there. They even shared the story with the staff over the years, and had a following on Facebook to see if they would find the letters every year.

Since discovering that the letters have been lost, the Ludwigs have been trying to share their story with anyone who might have an idea of what happened to them. They talked to everyone they could while staying at the Peek and Ludwig said the manager even called the man who replaced the floors in the room. A friend also suggested Ludwig tag the Peek in a Facebook post to see if anyone might have more information.

“I have been overwhelmed with the amount of people that have reached out to talk with and tag people they know that may have information and share my story online,” Ludwig said. “Even my husband, who works at Family Health Medical Services, is talking with patients that have seen my post and shared information, like what the cleaning crew usually does with forgotten items found in rooms. It’s such a small world. Michael and I have tried to hold on to hope.”

After the discovery of the missing letters, Ludwig said the couple did not write new ones this year, as it did not feel right at the time and they were both really sad to find the others missing. A new tradition will be formed, and Ludwig added that new letters were not necessarily off the table. Overall, she said her and Michael are just keeping their love story going.

“We are just everyday people who have a great love story,” Ludwig said.