- I am 91 years on planet Earth.

We came to San Francisco as part of the great migration of blacks looking for a better way of living, and my father, who was a carpenter, came first.

There was a smell, the fog, colors, and sounds.

It was amazing for me.

I love San Francisco.

I do not have the opportunity to go to the Golden Gate Park.

- [Interviewer] Do you miss it?

- Oh my God, yes.

In fact, I get a little teary thinking about it.

Hello.

- Hello, hello!

How are you?

- Hello, hello, hello.

- We'll help you get on safely, Ms. Janey, so take this.

- My name is Melissa Bell, and I have the great pleasure of riding along with Janey today on a joyride.

- And Janey, I'm behind you.

My name is Jacob.

- Okay, Jacob.

- I've done this many times.

- Don't run into turtles or fish, okay?

- [All] Hi!

- And we're off.

- [Jacob] And we're off.

- And we're off!

- Oh, we're going this way.

This is lovely.

- It sure is.

- And the yellow chairs are so lovely here.

Look at this.

I love this park.

I worked for the city for 48 years.

- Wow.

- Yeah.

I actually worked for recreation and park department.

We had programs, as a recreator, specifically for different children, different age groups, or with the senior citizens, which led me eventually working with persons with disabilities.

That's Golden Gate Park.

That's me.

We were doing the hokey pokey.

I don't know if you ever heard of that.

They would, each year, put on these festivals, and each playground in San Francisco was invited to participate.

I would learn the dance and teach it to the children on the playground, and then we would obviously, and this one is just that.

I can only say that I was having as much fun as they were.

This is all new here.

My brother, he just loved life, but I knew he was different.

There were no schools that even knew about developmentally challenged people.

Watching how people treated him taught me how to not judge or categorize persons with disabilities.

Why did they put animal heads on these things?

What do they, the dog and the what?

- Rabbit.

- [Janey] What is that symbolic of?

- I don't know.

What do you think?

- I don't know.

They didn't use the term developmentally challenged.

It came later on.

In 1968, they start moving, taking them out of institutions and putting them into residential care facilities.

This is at Jackson Playground.

I would plan trips for them.

They had never been in these places.

They'd been in institutions maybe most of their lives, so I'd take 'em to the state fair, I'd take swimming just all over, and we'd rent a bus, and I'd have 100 of them, maybe.

Hi.

Hello.

- [Melissa] Happy skating!

- Beautiful.

Oh, so nice.

- [Melissa] "No dancing."

- Oh, wow.

Look at that.

- Oh my gosh.

- Why not?

- I don't know.

Hi!

- Watch the runner.

- Yeah, I see her.

- What a great day for her.

- Wow, look at her quads.

- Seriously.

- I had quads like that.

- Yeah?

Tell me that story.

Tell me about that.

- Ooh, yeah.

I ran barefoot to Ocean Beach.

I would drink a pint of carrot juice every morning, and that's why I ran six miles.

This is the stretch I ran with John Handy, trombone, the saxophonist.

Move around all the way to the beach, down to the zoo, and back, and then I left him.

- Left him in the dust, huh?

- Yeah.

I never really met Coltrane, but I did meet Mr. Gillespie and Joe Zawinul and Miles Davis.

I had this album that I actually had got Mr. Davis, at the time, to sign.

That would be the first time that music really moved into my spirit.

Look at the colors in this.

This isn't normal for this.

This super bloom is absolutely gorgeous.

Just look!

- It's incredible.

Look at this.

- And look at here.

- [Jacob] Check it out, look at this tree right here, little pink and white flowers.

- [Melissa] Beautiful.

- Look at this.

This is what I miss by not driving myself here, being able to just drive, get in my car and go.

That's the freedom that I miss.

- Mm.

- Oh, the colors!

Goodness, and I don't have a camera.

I have to have someone bring me it.

Look at this.

Look at this.

Why don't I have my phone with me?

- [Melissa] How lucky are we?

- Oh, yeah, look at this.

Look at that.

Isn't that beautiful?

- [Melissa] It is so beautiful.

- You know, if I had a last memory before I leave Planet Earth, it would be this view here.

We're back already.

Oh, it's too soon.

I don't want to go back.

- Hey, in we come.

- This is so beautiful, beautiful.

I have had one of the best days of my life.

What can you say about the wonders and marvelous beauty that we've seen?

It's indescribable.

I's a feeling that you get inside that I'll remember forever.

- Come on.

Artists and Elders is this fantastic project, and for years now, they've been pairing elders and artists together so that they can learn a little bit about each other and then create some really special moments.

I just feel really honored to be part of a day where an elder gets to get out and experience joy in these ways and to tell their stories, but then beyond that, to be able to get a few of these fun surprises.

It just gives you a better appreciation.

- Keep going.

Keep it up.

Yep, that's it.

Keep going.

- Melissa?

- Hey, my friend!

- Janey!

Hi, gals, how you doing?

Oh.

- Hey, I brought some extra binoculars.

You wanna do some bird watching?

All right.

- Got some birds.

- So let's see.

What are you looking at?

- There's a blue heron just flew from above over there.

- Can you see that one tree with your binoculars?

- [Janey] Yeah, right there it is.

- [Melissa] Got it up close?

- That is a blue heron nesting there.

You see it?

- Oh, wow.

- Yeah.

- Oh.

- Oh my God, yeah.

- Oh.

- You ready?

- Yeah.

- Thank you.

Thank you, hello.

- Oh.

- [Howard] Oh, you are more than welcome.

How you doing?

- I'm doing real good, and what an ending.

Jeez, jeez.

- Well, thank you, thank you so much.

- Can I join you for a minute?

- Please.

- Heard you like jazz.

- Oh, my love.

Love jazz.

- Oh, me too.

- I'm thinking of John Coltrane as you're playing and all.

- Oh, that's, oh man.

- Yeah, that's my heir.

- Oh, that's good stuff.

You must have a ridiculous record collection.

- It's pretty nice.

I have five albums signed by Miles.

- Oh whee!

Oh whee.

- Yeah.

- I thought I was doing something with a couple Miles originals, but you got that autograph, girl!

All right.

- Yeah.

- Can I play one more song for you?

- You did one on me, you know.

I wondered about him, and I use... - Yeah, that oughta get rid of that.

- I don't know how 91 is supposed to feel.

I've had a very good life, and I'm very thankful.

I enjoy being able to be independent and take care of myself.

I'm doing what I am here to do on planet Earth and to learn and to give, and that's love.

- She exudes so much love and appreciation for the world around her, so it's really fun just to be in her presence and hear what she has to bring.

- Sometimes you think, oh, what did I do, I didn't do?

But I did.

I contributed to a lot of children that were part of my work.

It's a good feeling to know that I've made a contribution and I have more to continue giving.