Former president Jimmy Carter’s grandson says the 39th president and his wife of 77 years, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, are in the last chapter of their lives together with Mr Carter in hospice care and Ms Carter being treated for dementia.
In an interview with People, Josh Carter said visits to his grandparents are “different” with both of the Carters undergoing medical treatment, but said they remain as close as they’ve been during the rest of their nearly eight-decade marriage.
“They are still here, they are still holding hands and still very much together,” he said.
In February, the Carter Center announced that the 98-year-old ex-president, who in 2015 underwent successful treatment for brain and liver cancer, was entering hospice “to spend his remaining time at home with his family”.
Three months later in May 2023, it was announced that Ms Carter, 96, was suffering from dementia.
Josh Carter told People that Ms Carter is still aware of who he, her husband, and her other family members are, and said she is still able to form new memories.
He also posited that it has “gotta be hard” for the former president to see his wife lose access to some memories, but he conceded that the former first couple has “experienced everything that you can together”.
“I think the beautiful thing is that they are still together,” he said.
He later added that it was “clear we’re in the final chapter” with the former president and former first lady, who are the longest-married first couple in the history of the American presidency.
The Carters were married on 7 July 1946 shortly before Jimmy Carter graduated from the US Naval Academy.
