For hundreds of thousands of American armed forces, Bangor airport in Maine is the last bit of America they see before going to Iraq and the first place they land when they come home. A group of locals make sure to be there to send them off and welcome them back. They show up at all hours of the day and night, just to make sure our soldiers feel appreciated.

The Way We Get By focuses on three older members of this group: Bill Knight, a World War II vet; Joan Gaudet, a great grandmother (and the director's mother); and Jerry Mundy, a former Marine. All three live alone. All three face health problems. Each one finds an important purpose in their service at the airport.

The film gives little attention to the pros and cons of the war in Iraq, although the three greeters have differing perspectives on the war. The film really isn't so much about greeting soldiers (although we see much of that work) as it is about what life is like for people as they age. Bill, Joan, and Jerry all face serious issues. Bill seems to have in many ways shut down since his wife's death. His house is full of clutter and trash. He can barely pay his bills. In time he has to sell his farm and move into a trailer park. On top of this, he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Joan raised a large family and now is in a seriously empty nest. Two of her grandchildren are due to leave for Iraq, so the work she does at the airport becomes very personal. Jerry suffers a fall and is briefly hospitalized, and as the film goes on loses his closest friend.

Much of the film shows how these three live their lives in the face of the loneliness and health issues that are so much a part of their lives. For Bill especially the loneliness is almost palpable. At one point he speaks to the cameraman in his truck with him: "I imagine you talk to your wife. Something you think of interest might happen to you and you're anxious to tell her about it. When they're gone, who do you tell about it? Four walls don't pay no attention to you or could care less about it."

Bill also has some periods of thinking about his own mortality—an issue of increased importance as he fights his cancer. In one of those reflections he says, "My life don't mean a hell of a lot to me, but if I can make it mean something for somebody else—that's my endeavor." When asked why his life doesn't mean anything to him, he goes on, "Well, I've got nothing really to live for except what I do for other people. I've outlived my usefulness as for an individual. But helping other people puts a little bit of meaning back in my life. At least that's what I hope it's doing."

We see in all three of the greeters a sense of brightness that fills their time in the airport with the departing or returning soldiers that is missing from much of the rest of their lives. It does indeed give some sense of meaning to their lives that they may feel is winding down in a world where they are treated as of little value. It points out that involvement in some sort of sharing with others can be an important way for seniors to have meaning in their lives.

Early in the film Bill comments that he does this because no one welcomed Vietnam vets home and he wants today's veterans to feel appreciated. It is a bit ironic that outside of this work, Bill and the others may not have any sense of appreciation either. How disheartening it must be to feel, as Bill does, that one has "outlived [his or her] usefulness." There are many ways that society gives that message to seniors. But it need not be true.

Besides the limited theatrical release The Way We Get By is receiving, it will also on public television as part of the PBS documentary series, "P.O.V." It is set to air in November. Check with your public TV station for times.