Americans Glimpse Jimmy Carter’s Frailty and His Resolve

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

Americans Glimpse Jimmy Carter’s Frailty and His Resolve

Rick Rojas and Jacey Fortin

Wed, November 29, 2023 at 7:37 AM EST·4 min read



Former President Jimmy Carter attends the memorial service for his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, at Glenn Memorial Church in Atlanta, Nov. 28, 2023. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times)


ATLANTA — His face was pale and gaunt, his legs were wrapped in a blanket, and his eyes never seemed to make contact with the family members huddled around him. But on Tuesday, Jimmy Carter was there, in the front row of a church in Atlanta, just a few feet from the coffin holding Rosalynn Carter, his wife of 77 years.



Carter, 99, was some 164 miles from his home in Plains, Georgia, where he had been in hospice care since February. He was brought into the church in a wheelchair, as the crowd of mourners at the memorial service looked on, many of them catching their first glimpse of him in nine months.



That he would make such a trek in his condition was, to some, shocking — and, to his family, worrisome.



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And yet, it was also very true to form: a display of the tenacity, bordering on stubbornness, that has been a defining characteristic of Carter, the longest-living president in U.S. history.



“Come hell or high water, Jimmy Carter was going to use his inner resources to be there,” presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said, adding that the former president “has the most intense willpower of any person I’ve ever known.”



A strain of determination has always been core to Carter’s identity, particularly when it came to Rosalynn, who rebuffed him when he first asked to marry her. But it has also evolved into a quiet intensity that has propelled him — and at times dismayed his family and aides — as he has repeatedly defied illness and infirmity.



“He is a man of enormous stamina and strength and will,” author Kai Bird, a Carter biographer, said on CNN, as the memorial service concluded Tuesday.



In 2019, after a fall left him with a black eye and stitches, he soon showed up to help build houses in Nashville, Tennessee, for Habitat for Humanity. “I had a No. 1 priority, and that was to come to Nashville to build houses,” Carter said at a gathering of volunteers, according to People magazine.



“One of the things Jesus taught was: If you have any talents, try to utilize them for the benefit of others,” Carter, then 95, told the magazine, which reported that he had 14 stitches on his head. “That’s what Rosa and I have both tried to do.”



Not long after that, he fractured his pelvis. He ignored pleas from his family and staff and showed up to teach Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church, carefully perching on a stool in front of the congregation to offer a simple sermon about being a kind and loving neighbor.



Afterward, he and his wife stayed in their seats, as dozens of visitors from around the world lined up for pictures with them.



Jimmy Carter has rarely been seen in public since he entered hospice care, and in May, the Carter Center announced that Rosalynn, a longtime advocate for greater access to mental health care, had dementia. She died on Nov. 19, at age 96.



Carter’s family expressed concerns that attending Tuesday’s service could be taxing for the former president. But they also recognized the importance of his presence at the church, where he joined some of his successors and every living presidential spouse.



“He has been this moral rock for so many people, but she really was that rock for him,” his grandson, Jason Carter, said. “He’s glad he’s not going to miss it, but we’re all worried about him.”



The Carters’ daughter, Amy Carter, said at the service that her father was not able to speak to the attendees. So she read a love letter he wrote to his wife while he served in the Navy more than seven decades ago.



“My darling, every time I have ever been away from you, I have been thrilled when I returned to discover just how wonderful you are,” Carter wrote in the letter. “While I’m away, I try to convince myself that you really are not, could not be, as sweet and beautiful as I remember. But when I see you, I fall in love with you all over again.”



“Does that seem strange to you?” he went on. “It doesn’t to me. Goodbye, darling. Until tomorrow, Jimmy.”



c.2023 The New York Times Company


news.yahoo.com/americans-glimpse-jimmy-carter-frailty-123706688.html

I do not think it will be long before President Carter joins his wife in heaven. Forever holding hands.

[Clipper]

At ninety nine years old and as frail and infirmed as he is it will be a blessing when he passes on to join his wife in heaven. Their marriage has been an inspiration to all who have followed their lives after their time in the White House. Their tenacity and dedication to making the lives of others better is an example that one would do well to follow. Jimmy Carter's mission here on earth is nearing it's end but an eternal life, walking a hand in hand with Rosalynn is awaiting him.

[artsyone]

Nov 30, 2023 9:26:52 GMT -5 Clipper said:

At ninety nine years old and as frail and infirmed as he is it will be a blessing when he passes on to join his wife in heaven. Their marriage has been an inspiration to all who have followed their lives after their time in the White House. Their tenacity and dedication to making the lives of others better is an example that one would do well to follow. Jimmy Carter's mission here on earth is nearing it's end but an eternal life, walking a hand in hand with Rosalynn is awaiting him.

do you think that he is aware of where he is and why? Of course, that is a rhetorical question which we have no way to answer. They won't be apart long. Jimmy still has some work to do in the world...but I agree, his crown in Heaven is waiting. I remember , of course, when people made fun of him and called him a "Georgia Peanut Farmer" or worse and all that bru ha ha about his brother and "Billy Beer". I actually wrote him a letter, as a joke of course, inviting him to my house for lunch and I got a signed card back upon which he stated he would not be able to do so and he gave his regrets. I no longer have the letter but I have the card. I had 3, one from Eisenhower, which I received at age 11, one from Nixon which I threw out ( slap slap slap) and one from Carter, I still have those two, Eisenhower and Carter.

[Clipper]

He is a remarkable man. I would not doubt it at all if he were quite aware of his surroundings and why he is there. It sounds like the family was worried about the physical and mental stress of transporting him to the funeral, and he insisted on attending.

I haven't drank since 1976 but I DID manage to acquire 2 cans of Billy Beer from a friend many years ago as a collectible. A few years ago I put them up for sale on a local marketplace group on Facebook, asking $60 OBO. They were only advertised on there for about 4 hours and some guy responded and gave me the full $60 price and was quite excited to be able to have them. People collect strange stuff. He said he had a beer can collection of over 1000 cans. He had an empty Billy Beer can but was thrilled to acquire the 2 unopened cans. Go figure. That belly wash probably sold for about 2 bucks a 6-pack back in the day, haha.

My collectible of choice is baseball caps. When I traveled for the Air Force before the base closed I collected a cap from each unit I visited all around the US and Germany. I have a collection of about 70 of those caps, plus about 10 various caps that are still on active duty . My balding head seldom goes anywhere without a cap on. One experience with a sunburned pate made a believer out of me, haha.

[BHU]

When God made Jimmy Carter the mold was broken. We need more Jimmy Carter's in Washington as witnessed by what's going on there with our elected representatives & those NOT there.

I think he knew what was going on. Right before Rosalynn passed he asked that his bed be moved so he was facing her so he could see her as they talked.