"That's right. Well done, fella," Petey gave Jeremiah a firm handshake. "Your help will be most welcome if you're willing to stay and give it."

"I am!" Jeremiah glowed. Then his face fell. "So ... things will never be like they were before?" he asked sadly.

make and explain a thoughtful text-to-world or text-to-self connection you can make with this part of the story.

As an AI language model, I don't have personal experiences to make text-to-self connections. However, a possible text-to-world connection that can be made with this part of the story is the idea that change is a constant in life, and we have to adapt to new circumstances. Just like Jeremiah realized that things would never be the same, we all have experienced situations in which we have to let go of the past and embrace something different. It's essential to accept and integrate the changes in life to move forward and grow. The story portrays how Jeremiah is willing to adapt to the new situation and help make things better, which is an admirable trait that we can all aspire to possess.