One year ends and another begins; there is no better time to reflect on the news stories that inspired happy feelings in 2025.

While conflict, death and disaster are inevitable, there were just as many moments of light, laughter, hope and heart in the Kankakee County region that helped carry us through another year.

You just have to stop to look around.

‘Uncle Willy’ welcomed home, returns to rural life

One such moment happened in March, when Willy VanWassenhove, affectionately called “Uncle Willy” by the children in his life, returned home after being seriously injured in a crash in September 2024.

The accident resulted in the amputation of his right leg.

After six months, 15 surgeries, and intensive physical therapy in Chicago, the Cabery hog farmer received a warm welcome home from his family, friends and community.

“We had a view of the lake at the hospital, but I’d rather just look out the window at the cornstalks in the field,” Willy said upon returning home.

More than 50 people lined the streets of the village as Willy received a police escort to the Cabery Fire Department, where he was a firefighter.

Supporters gathered to wish him well as he continued his long road to recovery and began the journey to resume his normal life.

VanWassenhove had a lot to look forward to, including picking up where he left off with the Kankakee County Fair, 4-H auction, and Future Farmers of America activities.

Retired farmer’s pumpkins bolster senior garden club

This September, the Daily Journal caught up with Glenn Anderson, a 95-year-old retired farmer who sells the fruits of his labor to fund the senior garden club at Riverside’s Westwood Oaks Independent Living in Kankakee.

Those fruits were, of course, pumpkins.

The biggest one, his grandson had guessed, was well over 60 pounds.

Anderson farmed for decades in the Kempton area.

Now, he tends to pumpkins, peppers, tomatoes and more in the senior living community’s garden beds, not only as a hobby to keep him active, but also to help spread smiles to his neighbors.

He grows and auctions off pumpkins every three years.

Glenn and his wife, Esther, celebrated their 71st wedding anniversary this year.

They lived together until about a year ago, when Esther moved into an assisted living unit, but they are still close by. Together, they have four children, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Cooper Freedlund celebrates end of chemotherapy

This summer was a special time for 13-year-old Cooper Freedlund.

The Bourbonnais teenager celebrated the end of his chemotherapy treatments. He finally got to ring the “cancer-free bell” at a gathering of friends and family.

His parents, Gary and Jamie Freedlund, are the founders of Mattea’s Joy, an organization that provides support to parents of hospitalized children.

Cooper had been diagnosed in fall 2024 with osteosarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer.

After a surgery to remove the diseased bone from his arm and several rounds of chemotherapy, Cooper’s scans returned clean results.

Cooper started his eighth-grade year this fall at Bourbonnais Upper Grade Center as a normal, healthy teenager.

The Freedlunds never stopped trying to find and spread joy, even during a harsh time. When Cooper was in the hospital, his parents encouraged him to use some of the funds raised for him to help other kids in need.

Jamie also continued delivering meals to families on other floors of the hospital while her son was being treated.

“It’s because of our experience that we know that’s where the joy is,” Jamie said. “We can’t put the thing on hold that we know brings the joy.”

Not a ‘Monster’ after all: Actor leaves Momence with 2 kittens

Momence was in the spotlight yet again this year as the Netflix drama series “Monster,” which uses its third season to tell the horrific true story of serial killer Ed Gein, was filmed in the city’s historic downtown in February and March.

The show began streaming in October.

Charlie Hunnam, who stars as killer Ed Gein, can be recognized from his role as a main character, Jax Teller, in the FX drama series, “Sons of Anarchy.”

Though viewers can see Hunnam portraying a monster on screen, the actor reminded everyone of his true soft-hearted nature during his downtime from filming, when he adopted two kittens from River Valley Animal Rescue.

Following an extended stay in Momence, much of Hunnam’s free time was spent in the Cat Oasis shelter in the city’s downtown.

Hunnam seemed to find an oasis at the Oasis.

He gave a $1,000 donation to help the shelter care for its large number of rescue cats.

The actor began visiting the shelter and took a liking to a kitten named Sugar Plum, who, as it turns out, had a sidekick, Gingerbread, a nearly identical black cat.

On what was likely his final day in the eastern Kankakee County city, Hunnam completed the adoptions for the pair of sister rescue kittens.

Their destination was Los Angeles, where Hunnam lives with two other cats.

Long-lost service dog finds way back home

This spring, a local man experienced a miraculous reunion with his dog that had been stolen from him six years ago when living in another state.

It was 2019 when EF Ellington’s dog was lured away and stolen from a yard in Kansas City, Missouri.

In early March, Ellington, of Hopkins Park, got a call from his mom telling him they found Mz. CC, his English Staffordshire service dog.

“She was 6 then, and now she’s 12,” he said in May when talking with the Daily Journal. “She’s 84 [in human years]. … I’m still in a daze.”

It’s a remarkable story of the journey CC took from being away from her master and then being reunited because of the help from some dedicated, kind people who reached out to find the rightful owner.

Ellington did everything he could to find Mz. CC. Days, months and then years passed.

Then one day, CC wandered up onto the porch at a home in Elgin, Oklahoma, about 70 miles southwest of Oklahoma City, near Lawton.

CC was then picked up by the Elgin Animal Shelter, where Alexis Crow, an animal control officer, scanned for a pet microchip.

Although the phone number was out of date for the microchip, the shelter did know CC was registered in Kansas City.

It was there, through a Facebook group for lost and found pets that Glenn Golden started the process to bring CC home.

Golden, known as the “Chip Detective,” started making calls to Ellington’s relatives and finally reached EF’s mom in Chicago.

The Elgin Animal Shelter drove the dog 850 miles to Ellington’s home in Hopkins Park on April 2 to finally bring her home.