A not very "Happy Birthday" for Donald, now 77, does he have turning 80 on his mind

 

• CC BY-SA 4.0 Mr.You-Ren Yu, by Li Mei-shu, Li Mei-shu Memorial Gallery, Wikimedia Commons

By Hal Brown

Do I suffer from the cognitive impairments of someone approaching being 80? Read more of my blog here and you be the judge.

This isn't about Trump being unhappy because of his legal entanglements. After all, he's the "what me worry" kid. This is partially about his not wanting to attract attention to his being 77, basically "almost" old in the mind of many people, or decrepitly old in the view of other people. 

Trump in his grandiose delusional mind probably thinks he's a hunka-hunka-burning macho love. However, denial can go so far and there must be part of him that knows 77 makes him elderly.

I learned about Trump turning 77 today from the story, above top, in The New York Times, and then read more about his reaction in Rupert Murdoch's New York Post which has a video of him reacting to his fans singing Happy Birthday to him.

Trump ‘winced’ at ‘Happy Birthday’ serenade because he hates calling attention to turning 77

Excerpt:

Former President Donald Trump “winced” at supporters singing “Happy Birthday” not just because of his historic legal woes — but because he’s embarrassed at turning 77 on Wednesday, a source told The Post.

The birthday boy grinned awkwardly while he was serenaded a day early at Miami’s iconic Versailles Restaurant in Little Havana, where he headed Tuesday after pleading not guilty to 37 counts in federal court.

“Some birthday. Some birthday,” said Trump, looking like he was eager for the serenade to stop.

I turned 79 in January. I am living in the final year of being in my late seventies. There’s no getting around the fact that Donald Trump has just entered the first year of being in his late seventies. He’s not in his early seventies (70-73), and he’s not even in his mid-seventies (74-76).  He's in what I think most people would call his late-seventies (77-79). 

From today on when he's up posting on Truth Social at 3:00AM if he allows himself to dwell on it he'll have to realize he's one day closer to being 78 than he was before he went to bed. Being 77 may enable him not to think about how old he is, but this is a lot more difficult when one is 78 and even more difficult when you're like I am counting down the day to being 80.

When you’re my age you remember a TV show called “Life Begins at Eighty” which was the name of an early 1950’s TV show hosted by Jack Barry. At that time 80 was older than it is today when a similar show could more aptly be named “Life Begins at Ninety.”

About a third of the country will live to be 90. About 62% of them won't get dementia. However if 80 is very old, 90 is very, very old, and if you make it to 100 you are ancient.

I live in a senior community where while I know many residents who succumb to dementia or demonstrate cognitive decline in their early seventies, I also know many who are cognitively sharp well into their nineties. 

There is a concept called super-aging, and some people are fortunate enough to be superagers. Below is from VeryWellMind:

A superager, also known as a super-ager, is a person who is at least eighty years of age and retains the memory skills and capacity of someone at least thirty years younger. This population falls well outside the "normal" memory skill range for people their age.

Here's another article:

Secrets of ‘SuperAgers’ who possess brains as sharp as people 20 to 30 years younger

My impression is that both President Biden, who has a healthy lifestyle, and Donald Trump, who doesn't, are super-agers. Until now the fact that Trump isn't all that younger than Biden hasn't stopped him from saying things that portray him as a doddering old man. Now that Trump is 77 he may give pause before he does this. He's also one stumble and fall away from being mocked unmercifully as Trump the tripper.

Addendum:

Ageism, which is defined as prejudice or discrimination towards elders, is prevalent in America. This is in contrast to Asian countries, some African countries, Native American culture, and other societies, where elders are revered for their wisdom. (See "The Wisdom of Elders" in Psychology Today and "7 Cultures That Celebrate Aging and Respect Their Elders" in HUFFPOST. )

I wrote about this here: Biden and Trump's candidacy and ageism.

A WaPo column "3 reasons we’re stuck with Trump and Biden" led me to write about ageism in America and say humbly that at almost 80 if it was between me and Trump I could be president. I made this illustration:

If it came down to it, oh say, the end of the world with me being the last of a handful of survivors, I could be president if I was able to take an afternoon nap. I know what I know and more important I know what I don't know and would need to rely on advisors to help me make decisions.