My encounter with Dave Jenett:

My initial reaction when meeting Dave Jenett was, simply, “wow.” The minute I locked eyes with this man I could feel the enthusiasm that he holds for just plain life. I could quickly tell that he would be one of the kind of people which I very rarely meet in life that allow me, stressed by inclination and habit, to calm down for a minute and smile. To allow myself to be convinced that, hey, maybe the world isn't really all that bad, after all. And if and when that proves not to be the case all the time, at least it is in the few moments of recollection of good, bad, exciting and interesting times in Dave's life.

I don't normally pay much attention to war and politics, since I generally don't believe in them, so I was expecting this interview to be confusing and taxing for me, but I must say it was strange hearing Dave's experiences through his optimistic eyes. He very often used the words “exciting” and mentioned “laughing” quite a bit. This was jarring to me, I would never expect that fighting in a war would allow a second for laughter, excitement in the form of fright, sure, but not laughing! His appreciation for the little things, and eagerness and willingness to laugh in the face of danger was quite inspiring. 

I related very well to his belief that he says, “Here I am, 85 year's old, and I'm still a kid!... I never grew up!” I often feel this way, finding myself laughing at childish jokes, or thinking things silly and off topic while I daydream more often than live in the real world. This, I think, may be the key to happiness. One of them, at least. If I can hold on to my child-like outlook on life, and somehow force myself to adopt the appreciation of life that Dave holds, and allow myself to laugh in the face of danger, maybe then I will truly be happy and live a very long and rewarding life.

I learned from speaking briefly with Dave, that I have been living my life in some ways that will let me grow to be similar to him in his old age, completely appreciative of having been able to experience all the things he has. I am a strong believer of living for the moment, and living in spontaneity. Life gets too damn boring, otherwise. I also learned which things to tweak in my life in order to push my appreciation for plain and simple living just a little bit farther. Even if Dave had a childhood void of self-confidence, he grew into himself and learned how to make the most of life.