According to their grandson Jason Carter, former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter are “at their wits’ end” but are finding time for each other and family amid health concerns.
“He’s been in hospice for several months now, but they’re happy,” said Jason, chairman of the Carter Center to USA Today.
“They’re together. They’re at home. They’re in love, and I don’t think anyone gets more than that. I mean, it’s a perfect situation for this time in their lives.”
His comments come months after the Carter Center announced in February that the former president would be admitted to hospice care at the couple’s home in Plains, Georgia.
The center later said in May that the former first lady had been diagnosed with dementia.
Jason told People magazine that he expected his grandfather, who will celebrate his 99th birthday on October 1, to have “only a few days left” when he entered hospice care.
He said the last few months had been “surprising” for his loved ones and called the time a “true blessing.”
“Partly because we had so much extra time to spend all together, and partly because it gave us the opportunity to reflect on our personal relationships and experience the shocks from around the world for him and him.” [Rosalynn] and for them as a couple,” Jason said.
Jason revealed to USA Today that one of those supporters is President Joe Biden, who he said is in contact with the former president on a “fairly regular basis.”
He added that Biden wrote to the former president “just to let him know that he continues to think of my grandfather, pray for him.”
Jason said his grandfather finds time for family and watching baseball at home despite what he called “very significant physical challenges.”
He told People that his grandfather and grandmother, who celebrated their 96th birthdays last month, were there for each other despite their health problems.
“They are in love at home and at peace with whatever comes. … This love story that really defines her life continues to define it,” Jason told the magazine.
The Carter Center seeks honor the former president through a digital mosaic of messages, photos and videos on his 99th birthday.
