Tonight Mr. Trump will be addressing the Joint Session of Congress. Although I do have trouble sitting through more than 5 minutes of his self-perpetuating megalomaniac rants, I will watch as much as I can.

My focus will only partially be on Trump’s message. It will be interesting to watch his body language and listen to his patronizing “kiss up” to whomever is there. We know, Donny, you love them and they love you. There has NEVER been anybody that loved them more than you.

As is tradition, he will bring his parade of “common Joes” to re-enforce his love for the same people that he demonized when he was among haters. Plan to see at least one black man/woman and one Mexican man/woman. My money is on no Muslims have been invited. Or, like many of his other invites, they have been offered but refused. They have integrity. The only children he will point out will be his own and someone’s grandkids.

I always hate the way he utilizes the hand movement called the “money gesture” or an Italian gesture called “The Ring”. His thumb and index fingers are pinched together at the tips. I have always found that gesture to be demeaning and condescending.

One of the more interesting traits of his speeches is how many adjectives he uses to describe things he’s trying to sell us on. He never makes a statement without qualifying it with an adjective follow-up. For a man that believes he’s saving us from disaster, he uses the words greatest, tremendous, magnificent and wonderful a lot, but that’s only when he refers to Trumptopia.

The words disastrous, horrendous, fake and badly will also permeate the hall tonight. After all, he is here to remind us of how horrible the world we live in is. These words will be used to describe Obamacare, immigration laws, regulations and the military. These are things he will either get rid of, or allot money for that doesn’t exist.

He has very quick eye movement behind narrow openings. He very seldom makes eye contact with people when speaking to groups. When I coach my speech kids, I tell them that when they don’t make eye contact when speaking, it’s like a duck hunter shooting a bullet in the air and hoping a duck flies into it. Tonight, you will notice that he will speak to the Right side of the room (his left) and the balcony where his closest allies are seated. I believe this is a sign of his need to only connect with only people that are in his fold.

The seating for this event is as traditional as they come. The Democrats sit on the left of the aisle and The Republicans sit on the right side facing the podium. Behind him will be seated Pence and Ryan. I’m going to watch and see if Ryan squirms and if Pence displays any emotion other than sullen or smiling. I keep thinking there’s an alien living inside his plastic looking body.

Whenever Mr. Trump makes certain points of how he will make “America Great Again” the protocol is that the side of the aisle that represents his party stands up and applauds. Since many of his statements will be controversial, we’ll see who has drunk the Kool-Aid. This will give us more of an indication of how things in Washington are REALLY going than anything the White House has released.

Don’t think he’ll mention Russia but may bring the fake press up.

Whatever the outcome, it’s a major event for the direction our country will go. I believe it will ignite more protests with people continuing to demand that our voices be heard. The world will be listening.

One last thing…I hope that after the first 5 sniffs, someone gets him either a handkerchief or a blood test.

There are 10,000 Americans turning 65 every day. Think about it, that’s a lot of changes that are occurring daily in our country such as retirements, Social Security, Medicare A & B and all those “external” adjustments that need to be made. Although I’ve got a lot to say about those aspects of aging, they are not the topic of this post.

This is more of a personal experience essay.  I will address the two main aspects of aging that I am more aware of now that I have legally earned the title Senior Citizen. The first is the physical challenges that occur differently for everyone, but are inevitable. The second aspect is the mental challenges.

Everyone has their own individual physical tapestry that begins to unravel when Mother Nature starts recalling the gifts of youth that she gave you. It seemed that, beginning at age 45, any birthday ending in either 0 or 5 took some part of my body with it.

In my case, I can narrow it down to hair color, hearing, knees and teeth. There are other senses that are slipping, but not so much that you’d notice.

I wear my gray hair as a badge of honor. It’s like childbirth to me…you’ve got something coming out of you and you don’t know what to expect. I’ve got peppered gray hair which I like. My Grandma had pure white hair that she rinsed with laundry “bluing” to keep the yellow out. Now that I think about it, Maggie was funk before funk was cool. I remember shades of purple, pink, lavender and of course blue crowning her head over the years. In contrast, now, whenever I see someone with pitch black hair with the silver streak in their part, I wonder who they are trying to fool…us or them.

I became aware of my hearing loss when I realized that my daughter, Nora, was immediately repeating her statements to me knowing that I was going to ask her to repeat it. I plan to address this with hearing aids, but for now I’m okay. As fast as technology is moving, the longer I hold out, the better and less evasive the remedy. I do admit that both the music and TV are on higher volume levels in our house. And if you call me, expect to be on speaker phone.

Ah, my knees. I have no cartilage in my knee joints. The result has been that I look like I just got off a horse after a long cattle drive. There’s a little hint of Charlie Chaplin in my stance also. But, so far, it’s tolerable.  I get to where I’m going, just not as fast.

These joints are the victims of years of wear and tear in the gym and on the field. Not as an athlete as you’d think, rather either as a cheerleader or a twirler. Back then our uteruses were far more delicate than they are now. No athletics for budding young mothers of the future. I always figured that the tackle football I had played with my Big Bro and the other neighborhood guys, pretty much shot my uterus before I was 9. So roundoffs and marching on pavement/grass took my knees from me. Again, I am holding out to see how advanced medical technology can get to repair the damage. To the knees, not the uterus. I’m pretty much done with that part.

My teeth are proving to be the biggest challenge for me. When I was in 3^rd grade (mid ‘50s) I got braces. My teeth were not crooked but the cartilage in my jaw wasn’t solidifying, causing my lower jaw to slide backward. The result was an overbite that was only going to get worse. My mouth was “barb wired” and the upper and lower jaws were hooked together. The task for the next 3 years for the upper jaw was to gradually pull the lower jaw forward. Once it got as far as it would go, the job was to hold the lower jaw in place until the cartilage hardened. It was state-of-the-art dentistry at the time. The lasting consequence is that this process fractured the roots in my teeth, and after 50 years they are falling out.

For now, I look like I want to marry my first cousin and go on a hayride for the honeymoon. I am in the process of remedying this issue. It’s a lengthy process that is reinforcing humility in me. An upside is that I’ve lost a lot of weight. I’m sure people think I am dying, but how much weight can you gain eating yogurt, jello, oatmeal and Boost? The lack of weight has, shall we say, lightened the load on my bad knees.

Now to address the mental part of aging for me. There are two sides to this portion.

First, adjusting to other people’s perspective of you. I have discovered that I am treated differently, not only by strangers but also people who know me. I am aware the weight loss and the gimpy stride have caused people to consider me fragile and, I must admit, I’ll take getting dropped off at the door and help with hauling things up and down the stairs whenever I can get it.

The problem is when they also assume my mental state is weakening as well. This is most evident when dealing with computer technology. Without giving the multiple examples I could list, I’ll simply say it here and now, once and for all. “I appreciate technology and how it can make things so much better but, it is not second nature to me. It’s all new. Once I understand the “how” and the “why”, I take full advantage of the its many uses. I just need help with the understanding.” May I add, that as it changes, as it has rapidly, I may need help with the new systems/programs.

I am actually a very eager student for anyone that is willing to teach. I have by no means stopped learning. I relish news about Science advancements. I watch Historical documentaries. I read books. I always have a jigsaw puzzle in progress on the dining room table. My brain has so much more room to fill. I will not be someone that decides that I know all I need to know. (Don’t even mention politics! Yikes!)

The bigger change mentally should be what is going on in your own head and the purpose you have been given by God versus the purpose people want you to serve.The older you are, the less time you have to enjoy the benefits. This purpose, once identified brings enlightenment and spiritual recharging. For me it was the discovery of what I believe.

When I say what I believe, I am talking about faith, religion, Heaven, Hell, God, Jesus, reincarnation…. all that stuff. In 65 years, I learned a lot from St. Mary’s to Cross View Lutheran. But I asked myself, what did I believe? Seems like a pretty simple question. The question is simple but the answer is complex and one that only the person asking it can answer. My answer is that I believe that everything I do should be to help my fellow spirits further their quest for salvation. In doing that, my quest is furthered…it’s called Karma.

A strong basis for my belief is reincarnation. (I will not talk in length about that until after I read some of Shirley MacLaine’s statements and see where she went wrong.) Let’s just say that I don’t personally know anyone that lived a life so righteous that they fulfilled the requirements for Heaven in one attempt…except Jesus.

The reality for me is that my body is regressing according to Nature, but my spirituality and faith is still growing according to God. I am at a time when I am recharged with clarity of what I believe is God’s true path for me and I look forward to living life strongly and creating good Karma. I’ve got a lot good years ahead of me. As the old expressions goes: “The body may be weak, but the spirit is strong”.

By the way, regarding technology,  I’m not bitter and my feelings have not been hurt, but I think it’s important to note. I am using technology to advance my path and purpose in life. The fact you are reading this proves it. Thanks.

Ain’t what I used to be…I’m better.