Room 335

I just watched a documentary called 'Andrew Jenkins: Room 335'. In the documentary three 19 year old boys move into an assisted living facility for the elderly and stay there for an entire summer.

I have never really taken into perspective what it was like for an elderly person until I watched this documentary. I never understood what is was to not be able to do simple activities and actions I take for granted. Stuff like playing Basketball, moving furniture; even activities that I rarely take up they are never able to do again. They can't help their families; they just sit and detiorate, with their best years behind them. If they're lucky, they still have their memories.

There was one scene in particular that cut to the core of me. The boys visited one of the elderly ladies who had been admitted to hospital; this particular lady they had gotten to know well. She was shaking, wheezing and gagging in a struggle to breath. The priest from the facility prayed over her as she struggled to hold her hands together in prayer. Then one of the boys knelt beside her and asked if he could pray for her. As he began to pray she managed to clasp her hands together and when he was done she managed to squeeze out, 'thank you'.

Needless to say, it left me in tears.

She was beautiful and fragile; on her last breath with her soul exposed like a nerve. Will I be so brave when my time is up?