(DCWatchdog.com) – Former President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter, now 98 and 96, respectively, are in their “final chapter,” their grandson Josh Carter has revealed.
“It’s clear we’re in the final chapter,” Josh Carter told People magazine in an interview released over the weekend.
“My grandparents have always been the entertainers. But now we’re kind of the ones having to entertain. It’s different; it’s just a different era,” he added, as cited by Newsmax.
In February, former President Carter stopped getting medical treatment and moved to hospice care at home.
In May, the Carter family issued a statement informing the nation that former First Lady Rosalynn Carter had dementia.
Jimmy Carter is the third oldest living person to have been a state leader. After 77 years together, he and his wife are the longest-married presidential couple in US history.
In 2015, the former Democrat president beat brain cancer but had another brain surgery in 2019.
Before he became president in 1977, Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer, a US Navy lieutenant, and a one-term governor of Georgia.
He lost the 1980 presidential election in a landslide to Republican Ronald Reagan.
The former first couple’s grandson said there was always someone from the family to keep Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter company in hospice.
“He’s still fully Jimmy Carter. I mean, he’s almost 99 years old, but he fully understands [how many well wishes he’s received] and has felt the love,” Josh Carter said, as cited by CNN.
He added his grandmother Rosalynn understood her dementia diagnosis and signed off on the family statement that announced it to the public three months ago.
“She still knows who we are, for the most part – that we are family. My grandmother is still able to form new memories,” Josh Carter revealed.
He added it would be hard for his grandfather to witness his wife lose some of her memories.
“[However,] they’ve experienced everything that you can together. I think the beautiful thing is that they are still together. They are still holding hands… it’s just amazing,” their grandson said.
He added that while the Carters were now in their “final chapter,” it helps to know that “they lived their lives to the fullest.”
A serene calm in Plains, Georgia, has enveloped the home of America's 39th president. Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter are in their final chapter, according to the couple's grandson.
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— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) August 21, 2023
