She knew about paintball guns. This little old lady doing yard work in a purple jogging suit and bright white tennis shoes—as bright as her short and curly, bright white hair—knew about paintball guns. I met her recently while on a walk through my neighborhood. While I can’t say being old is something I think about regularly, our conversation made me think that when the day comes and they label me “Senior Citizen,” I want to be just like her.

I was reminded of the documentary Andrew Jenks, Room 335.

The film, released in 2006 and available on DVD, follows 19-year-old Andrew Jenks, a college student who moves into a nursing home for the summer. His goal is simple: to find the meaning of life.

While it may sound like a weird, even morbid thing for a 19-year-old to do, Andrew is a refreshingly normal kid—a person trying, like all of us, to figure out who he is and what matters in life. In Andrew’s case, he chooses to look to those who have been alive the longest for the answers.

The film poignantly blends moments of humor and seriousness as Andrew comes to know and befriend the residents of Harbor Place.  The cast of characters is varied and enjoyable, ranging from Bill Delarm, the 87 year-old who’s still juggling more than one girlfriend, to Tammy Signorile, the 92 year-old who has more energy than most 20-somethings on the planet.  The film honestly captures the struggles of aging but also shows the grace in it as well.  It is entertaining, insightful, and at times gut wrenching.

In one scene, Andrew spends the afternoon golfing and goofing around with 87-year-old Bill.  Bill is determined to show the young whippersnapper a thing or two.  It’s one of the more lighthearted times they spend together, partially because the reality of Bill’s limitations are evident.  Even so, they begin to form a bond that—at least for a few minutes—ignores the vast difference in their ages and just shows two guys becoming buddies.

From a filmmaker’s perspective, Andrew Jenks, Room 335 is a great example of a young guy who had an idea and worked to make it happen.  The camera work isn’t impressive, and at times the audio isn’t great either. Expect the random boom mic to fall into the shot every once in a while. But what I appreciate about this film is that the lack of resources didn’t stop Jenks from making a powerful movie.

Andrew Jenks, Room 335 screened in 20 different film festivals around the world and won Best Film at Phoenix Film Festival. HBO picked it up for distribution in 2008.

Since then Jenks has gone on to create other works, including his most recent documentary, The Zen of Bobby V, which follows the career of baseball coach Bobby Valentine after his move to Japan.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone hoping to gain a little perspective on life, regardless of age.  A few years ago I spent several months interviewing hospice patients nearing the end of their life and learned a tremendous amount from the people I was privileged to meet.  I learned, as did Andrew, that getting old isn’t easy, dying isn’t easy, but people are people no matter how many candles are on their birthday cake and relationships can still exist, even if you were born decades apart.