ETA: Thank you, everyone, for getting this to the Rec List. The comments are fantastic and moving, and if anyone ever doubted that the Kos community had any love for Jimmy Carter, they wouldn’t anymore. As of now, the former President is still with us, and for however long we’ll have him, let us be grateful that it’s been as long as it has. People like Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter are gifts to humanity, and should be treasured.
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James Earl Carter, Jr., the 39th President of the United States, entered hospice care after years of illness and increasing physical infirmity. After being diagnosed with dementia in May 2023, his beloved wife Rosalynn joined him in hospice, and predeceased him in November 2023.
Carter is 99 years old. He and Rosalynn were married for seventy-seven years. It is common for couples who’ve been together for the long term to pass closely to one another — a famous instance would be June and Johnny Cash, who died within 4 months of each other.
Jason Carter, the former President’s grandson, spoke at the 28th Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum, which is held each May to discuss mental health policy issues facing Georgia. This is an issue that was dear to Rosalynn Carter, and Jason — Jimmy’s and Rosalynn’s eldest grandson — is the chair of the Board of Trustees for the Carter Center.
In his remarks, Jason made the following statement:
"First of all, as you all have expected I'm sure, my grandmother's passing was a difficult moment for all of us -- including my grandfather," Jason Carter said. "This is of course the first of these forums since that day. 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 to us, and it really turned that whole process into a celebration."
Of former President Carter, Jason said he had visited him just a couple weeks ago at his home in Plains, Georgia, and that they watched a Braves game together.
"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, 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," Jason Carter said.
It’s difficult to predict the day or hour of death, even when the patient in question is as old as Jimmy Carter and has circumstances that would contribute to end of life — long-term illness, the loss of a long-term spouse, extreme old age. But it’s apparent that the end is coming for Mr. Carter.
When he dies, we will lose one of our greatest humanitarians, a man who rose from the ashes of political defeat to become a moral leader through example and grace, and provided us all with a representation of the spirit of love. Jimmy Carter may be vilified by the right wing, but he will be long remembered by many more for his generous, open heart and the decency that saw him give the force of truth to his words through deeds.
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. James 2:26.
I wish him a peaceful transition, and his family comfort. He will be long remembered for a blessing.
This is the official White House 2024 Christmas ornament, which honors Jimmy Carter’s service to the country as a Naval officer and as President.
