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Jacalyn Wetzel

Heroes

Man walking his dog sees the moment a 7-year-old slips into a river and rushes to save his life

"Oh my God, I’m going to have to jump in."

Photo credit: Canva

Man walking his dog saves boy who fell into the Seneca River

The thing about community is you don't have to know the people in your community to look out for them. Thankfully this is something that has resulted in neighbors helping neighbors in mundane and extraordinary situations. One little boy in New York is still alive thanks to one of his community members looking out for him when he found himself in pretty serious trouble.

Ed Rohmer, 61 was out walking his dog near the Seneca River in Baldwinsville, NY when he spotted seven-year-old Makai Bays walking with his bike across Lock 24. Where the boy was walking sits atop a water filled area that is opened and closed to raise or lower boats in the canal like an elevator. Makai stopped pushing his bike and, instead, climbed onto the large locking area where he sat dangling his feet. This prompted Rohmer to call out to the boy, hoping to stop him from making a grave mistake.

But just after Rohmer yells to the boy to be careful, Makai slipped off the lock and plunged into the frigid water below. The man attempted to cross the lock to get to the boy, but Rohmer tells syracuse.com that his dog Maggie refused to go over the grates. It didn't stop him from going after the child desperately trying not to drown in the cold river. Rohmer spotted an older kid on a skateboard and handed his dog over to them, then he rushed to try and get Makai out of the river.

All of this is happening while Makai's mom, Taylor Provost was at work. The mom of four left her 18- year-old daughter to babysit her younger siblings while Provost worked an evening shift. Makai was out with two other little boys playing when the kids got separated after deciding to go to the park. It was then that Makai, who had recently moved to that part of town, ended up next to the river where he fell in.

Thankfully, Rohmer happened to be nearby. After he witnessed the boy fall into the river, he rushed to save him—and then called 911. When the man made it to the edge of the lock he could see Makai hanging onto a log. It turns out the little boy didn't know how to swim, so the log was the only thing keeping him afloat. However, with the water so cold, it would only be a matter of time before he could no longer hold on.

Rohmer told syracuse.com that he yelled down to the scared boy, “I’m here. I'm going to help you."

The good Samaritan held the boy's bike over the lock and instructed him to grab onto the wheel so he, Rohmer, could use it to pull him up. Unfortunately, Makai's hands were so numb at this point that it was too painful for the boy to hold on. After a couple of failed attempts to grab his bike's wheel, the little boy slipped under the water. In an instant he was gone; one of his shoes floated to the top of the water where his head had just been.

In a Facebook post, Rohmer wrote, "He grabs it but says he can’t hold on, it hurts his hands. I get him about halfway out of the water and his hands slip off due to him being weighed down by the water and cold and scared. I try this two more times and his head goes under water as [he] falls back in on the second and third try. At this point I’m thinking I’m going to have to jump in if he doesn’t come back up. But i have no idea how I’m going to get him or myself back up."

Just when he was about to hop into the water with no idea how to get out, police and volunteer fire fighters show up. They all work together to figure out how to get the boy out after the bike and life ring didn't work. Eventually, one of the firemen put on special gear while Rohmer held onto his ankles, and lowered him down while another fireman helped from another angle to get the boy out of the freezing water.

After several hours in the hospital and likely lots of hugs from his mom, Makai is back home without injury. Just days after his near death experience in the Seneca River, Makai got to meet his real life hero with his mom and sister by his side.

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Humor

Man breaks down 50 Cent's '21 Questions' to reveal 21 red flags and people can't stop laughing

"Idk 50 that's a pretty big ask."

Photo credit: Keith Hinkle|Wikimedia and Photo credit: Canva

Man breaks down 50 Cent's '21 Questions revealing 21 red flags

Have you ever actually listened to the lyrics of some of your favorite club hits? Not the songs you can recite by heart because they're constantly in your playlist rotation, but the ones you were dropping it like it was hot to in your early 20s before your knees started to sound like someone poured milk on Rice Krispies.

Yeah, those songs. The ones you know the chorus to but you only really heard them played in the club or on the radio weekend mix on your way to said club. Well someone decided they were going to have another listen to 50 Cent's "21 Questions" and it left him with a list of questions of his own. Andrew, who goes by Andrew the Hedgehog on social media surmised that the rappers song should've been named "21 Red Flags" given the question 50 was asking.

"Am I the only one who thinks that 50 Cent was being pretty unreasonable on '21 Questions?,'" Andrew starts to explain. "Like it starts off innocent enough, 'if I fell off tomorrow would you still love me? If I didn't smell so good would you still hug me?' You know, like cute valid questions about whether she just likes him for his fame and his nice cologne or she's really in it for the long haul."

50 cent laughing GIFGiphy

That's when Andrew notes that it starts taking a pretty drastic turn that has him questioning what exactly the famous rapper is trying to get his love interest to commit to. The line where 50 Cent asks if he got sentenced to a quarter century if his girlfriend would still stick around is where Andrew pauses for reflection.

"Like, I don't know 50 that's a pretty big ask. If you get convicted by a jury of your peers of a crime that carries a 25 year sentence, you must've done something pretty heinous. Like, the worst of the worst white collar crimes get like 10 years," Andrew surmises before adding that in order to receive such a long sentence someone would've had to commit a violent assault or possibly manslaughter.

50 Cent Smh GIFGiphy

Honestly, he's got a really good point. Now we all have questions, Mr. Cent, why exactly are you going to jail for a quarter of a century? That's a long time to ask someone to hold out hope for reunification without knowing the details. But Andrew wasn't done with his own set of questions for the hit-maker.

There's a line in the song where 50 Cent asks if he went from driving a Mercedes to a hoopty if the girl would still stay with him. Andrew raised some financial concerns that might constitute a reason for someone to leave over the vehicle downgrade.

@andrewthehedgehog69 The song should’ve been called 21 red flags. Run for the hills this man is toxic #21questions #50cent #fyp #oldschoolhiphop #2000sthrowback #2000smusic #hiphop #00smusic #nostalgia #musicreview #jenshah ♬ original sound - Andrew the Hedgehog

"If you drove a Mercedes Benz and had to return to driving a hoopty, you didn't just fall off, you were extremely irresponsible with your money over a period of time. Which again, I think is a very valid deal breaker. Like, my wife doesn't even drive a hoopty. She makes a teacher's salary, she can still afford a Volkswagen Tiguan. I mean, like 50 Cent be more responsible with your finances, this is ridiculous," the man says.

Andrew's randomly concerned video about a song older than most Gen Zers has other people agreeing with his cautious analysis of the fictional relationship. One person demanded that Andrew make his own version of the song, writing "Now you need to make a remix, 21 reasonable questions."

50 Cent GIFGiphy

Another says, "This relationship sounds draining."

Someone thought it was a good idea to remind Andrew about 50 Cent's propensity to hold grudges, saying, "Sir 50 cent holds the craziest grudges and you felt confident enough to dissect his lyrics from the early 2000’s???"

One person writes, "I agree with you sir… 21 Red flags 🚩 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩Run ladies!"

"13 year old me sung that song at the top of my lungs to my crush. 34 year old me realizing that song is the epitome of toxic relationships. 😂" someone else shares and they just may have a point.

Who knows if the actual 50 Cent will ever see this logical adult breakdown of his early 2000s hit. But if he doesn't, Andrew has made us all take a step back to evaluate the song that's embedded into the soundtrack of the lives of Millennials and we're all better for it.

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Education

Woman shares harrowing story of student loan debt doubling after her mom passed away

So many reforms don't address this fundamental issue.

Photo credit: Canva

This is why we need student loan reform.

College is expensive. Parents work multiple jobs, put pressure on their children to perform at the top of their class in order to earn merit scholarships, all in the hopes for college to be mostly paid in full. Inevitably many students and parents have to take out student loans in an effort to fill in the gaps left by financial aid.

In the case of one X user, Michelle Miller, her mother agreed to pay back half of Michelle’s student loans to ease the burden on the new graduate. After graduation the daughter owed approximately $30,000 and, split between the two of them, it meant they would each need to pay back $15,000.

Michelle lamented about how her mother insisted on paying back her agreed-upon portion of the student loans though the daughter offered to take over payments. When Michelle’s mother informed her that the original $15,000 turned into $40,000 after interest, Michelle decided to save money in preparation to take over payments. However, her mother refused to allow it. Miller’s mother was expected to pay $400 a month on the student loans, but this would cut into her retirement, leaving her below the poverty level.

To her mother, it was worth it to hold up her end of the bargain. Unfortunately her mother became unexpectedly ill and passed away before she was able to retire or pay back the loans. When going through her mother’s paperwork after her death, Michelle was met with a shock. The loan amount had doubled. Michelle’s mother hid that the interest rate on the loans had brought the grand total to $80k that she could never afford to pay back.

But this story is not unique. Many borrowers go into debt thinking the benefit of the degree will outweigh the burden of student loan debt but the cost of an education continues to skyrocket and the interest rate on loans makes paying it back nearly impossible. When you go to school and take out loans, you expect to be able to afford monthly payments and hope to pay it back in a timely manner, eventually freeing up income, but that’s not always the case. A lot of people find themselves in a similar situation as Michelle’s mother. They take out a dollar amount that is repayable, only to look up and see they’ve repaid the original balance but they still owe more than they originally agreed to borrow.

If stories like Michelle’s are the norm, why aren’t we doing more to regulate student loan companies? Presidential candidates like to talk about student loan forgiveness. And in a recent announcement, President Donald Trump said he planned to “immediately” transfer the country’s $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio to the Small Business Administration, an organization that not only has zero experience handling student loans, but will also have its workforce decreased by 43%. Which is concerning, assuming it gets passed.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

And even still, changes like these don't solve the long term issue of student loan practices. The truth of the matter is that children who three months prior had to ask permission to use the bathroom are now expected to understand the long term implications of borrowing money from a company that doesn’t care that the average person can’t pay it back plus interest.

Seventeen- and 18-year olds with a dream of attending college and questionable loan practices is a perfect storm for continued crisis in the student loan arena. Until we can figure out how to better regulate the lending companies in charge of student loans, the next generation will repeat the cycle. People shouldn’t have to choose between pursuing their dreams and taking debt to the grave.

This article originally appeared three years ago.

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Love Stories

103-yr-old man forgot he needed a walker in his joy over wife's hospital release

This is so pure.

enfermeraestilosa|Instagram

The joy of reuniting with your love.

Love is a beautiful thing no matter how old the couple is, but there's something special about a love that's spanned most of a lifetime. Many people dream about growing old with the love of their life, making plans to have babies and sit in a rocking chair holding their babies' babies, but few get to actually live out that dream.

When you come across a couple who have been married for 50 or 60 years or longer, it's common to ask them their secret to long-lasting love. But there's at least one centenarian who simply embodies what true love looks like in the golden years. He doesn't offer up any secret advice, just a spontaneous act of pure, unadulterated love and people cannot get enough of it.

animation love GIFGiphy

A woman from Colombia posted a video to her Instagram page, enfermeraestilosa, showing the moment her 103-year-old grandfather reunited with his wife after a month-long hospitalization. He was so excited that he forgot he needed his walker when he went running towards the love of his life.

The text that accompanies the video translates from Spanish to English to say, "This is how my 103-year-old grandfather receives the love of his life after a month in hospital where we thought she would leave forever. How sad that things have to happen to realize that the lottery touches us every day with health, with family and with the love of the people we are close to. Yes, today is one more day that we have hit the jackpot. Merry Christmas, grandparents, you are together again."

Commenters just couldn't get enough of his enthusiastic joy over seeing his wife.

"I wish nothing else in this life that a love so pure and sincere that lasts forever."

"How beautiful, you made me cry with joy and excitement. What a pity that love of that generation is lost! Cheers to them, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and maybe great-grandchildren."

"True love is forever without doubt."

"I want a love like this.... How beautiful it made me cry."

"I'm crying on the subway and I don't think I'm the only one."

Miraculously, the grandfather in the video reached his 104th birthday in March of 2025, and yes, he is clearly still madly in love with his wife.

"Days before he turned 104 my grandfather became very very ill and I was afraid to lose him, but to him, what scares him the most is losing her," reads the translated caption on a video of the couple embracing on his birthday. "To her and to life. It sounds strange, but he never talks about death. He talks about life."

His granddaughter shared that she'd asked him years ago what he thought the key to happiness was. He answered:

- Do what you want and not what you 'should do for fear of.'

- Do no harm to anyone.

- Have a dream (and not a material one).

"I know you are not eternal and one day you won't be and I won't be able to see your wrinkles and your look when you see grandma, but you will always be eternal," the granddaughter wrote. "Grandparents are eternal."

grandpa, grandma, grandparents, old couple"Grandparents are eternal."Photo credit: Canva

What a beautiful tribute not only to long-lasting love but to the lessons we can learn from our elders, especially those who have lived such a long life and found so much success in a marriage. It's a good reminder of what truly matters and how love can endure when we treasure it like this 104-year-old treasures his wife. No matter how much time they have left together, it's clear they'll make the most of it.

This article originally appeared last year.

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