Former president Jimmy Carter has been into hospice for some time now, but he still gathered the strength to attend the funeral and the memorial service of his loving wife of 77 years, Rosalynn Carter, who passed away at the age of 96 on November 19, 2023.
During the final hours of her rich life, Jimmy was by his wife’s side. His son said that he asked to spend some time alone with her so that the two could talk to one another with their beds placed one next to another.
The funeral service was held at Maranatha Baptist Church, where Jimmy Carter and the former first lady worshipped. Earlier tributes were held in nearby Americus and in Atlanta.
Jimmy arrived in a wheelchair, wearing a black suit and a blanket bearing his and Rosalynn’s faces in her honor.
Unfortunately, Jimmy’s health is deteriorating as well. His grandson, Jason Carter, offered an update on his grandfather’s condition and said that the 39th President of the United States might not have too long left.
Rosalynn Carter was the driving force behind her husband of over seven decades.
They were by each other’s side through thick and thin.
“Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” Jimmy Carter said in the statement following Rosalynn’s passing. “She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.”
Sadly, with Rosalynn now gone, the main consensus is that Jimmy’s condition could take a steep turn for the worse.
“He’s coming to the end, and he’s very, very physically diminished,” Jimmy’s grandson told the New York Post prior to Rosalynn’s memorial service..
“He has been this moral rock for so many people, but she really was that rock for him.”
During the memorial service for Rosalynn, Amy Carter, the couple’s daughter, read a letter that Jimmy sent to his wife while he was away serving in the Navy.
“My darling, every time I’ve ever been away from you, I have been thrilled when I returned to discover just how wonderful you are,” he wrote. “When I see you, I fall in love all over again.”
The love story of Jimmy and Rosalynn resembled a fairy tale.
During his presidency from 1977 to 1981, Jimmy Carter told aides, “Rosalynn is my best friend… the perfect extension of me, probably the most influential person in my life.”
Roselynn wasn’t just a First Lady, but she was her husband’s closest advisor who stood by his side supporting every decision he made as a head of the country.
After leaving the White House, the Carters returned to live in their family house in Plains, Georgia. The house, which according to Zillow is valued at $209,996, was built in 1961, when the Carters welcomed their fourth child in their lives and needed a bigger place. The couple always led a quite and a very simple life.
Earlier this year, the Carter family revealed that Rosalynn was diagnosed with dementia. Shortly after, she entered hospice and spent the last days of her life surrounded by family and her loving husband. She barely walked, with a help of a walker, and her health declined significantly.
Jimmy’s grandson, Jason, delivered an update on his grandfather while speaking at the 28th Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum on Tuesday. “(My grandfather) is doing OK. He has been in hospice, as you know, for almost a year and a half now, and he really is, I think, coming to the end that, that — as I’ve said before, there’s a part of this faith journey that is so important to him. And there’s a part of that faith journey that you only can live at the very end, and I think he has been there in that space.”
“My grandmother’s passing was a difficult moment for all of us, including my grandfather,” Jason told the audience at the forum.
“The outpouring of love and support that we as a family received from the people in this room and from the rest of the world was so remarkable and meaningful for us and really turned this process into a celebration.”
At the mental health forum, Jason reminisced about a conversation he had shared with his grandfather a few weeks prior, as they sat together watching an Atlanta Braves game.
“‘People ask me how you’re doing and I say, I don’t know’ and he said, ‘Well, I don’t know myself,’” Jason remembered.
October 1 marked President Carter’s 100th birthday. Ahead of that special milestone, his grandson again spoke of his grandfather’s health condition noting he is physically diminished but still mentally and emotionally present.
“He’s doing okay,” Jason said of the former president, as per People, at “Jimmy Carter 100: A Celebration in Song,” sponsored by Delta Air Lines, an event that took place on Sept. 17 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta two weeks before Carter’s actual birthday.
“I mean he’s been in hospice for over 19 months now and he has really physically diminished and can’t do much on his own, but he is emotionally engaged and still having experiences and laughing, loving,” he added.
The former president’s birthday celebration included performances and celebrity guest appearances from Renée Zellweger, Dale Murphy, Killer Mike, and many more.
The family initially believed that Jimmy’s passing was imminent, but he has since defied the odds. “God had other plans,” Jason shared, emphasizing that they cannot predict his condition from day to day.
“He’s plugged in,” Chip, the 74-year-old son of the former president shared with Associated Press, explaining his father intends to live long enough to cast his vote on Election Day. “I asked him two months ago if he was trying to live to be 100, and he said, No, I’m trying to live to vote for Kamala Harris.”
Jason added: “Not everybody gets 100 years on this earth, and when somebody does, and when they use that time to do so much good for so many people, it’s worth celebrating.”
He continued, “These last few months, 19 months, now that he’s been in hospice, it’s been a chance for our family to reflect…and then for the rest of the country and the world to really reflect on him. That’s been a really gratifying time.”
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