- Former First Ladies line front row in tribute
- It was Rosalynn’s final wish that former first ladies put aside political differences and come together for the service
with Agency reports
FORMER first lady and wife of former President Jimmy Carter of the United States has been laid to rest. The former President arrived at his late wife Rosalynn’s memorial service dressed in a suit and covered in a blanket on a wheelchair.
Carter, who is 99, left hospice care to travel to Atlanta and pay tribute to his wife of many decades.
He and Rosalynn had been married for over 77 years when she died.
The funeral and memorial service held at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church was attended by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden along with all former first ladies who were invited.
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Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, and former President Bill Clinton all arrived in black, with Melania Trump making a rare public appearance to pay her respects.
During the service, the Carters’ daughter, Amy, read her father’s love letter which he dedicated to his wife while he was in the Navy.
“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,” Jimmy wrote 75 years ago.
“While I am 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? It doesn’t to me.
“Good bye darling, until tomorrow, Jimmy.”
Rosalynn was honored with classical music, the singing of hymns, and a discarding of all differences for the service.
It was her final wish that all former first ladies come together despite their varying political alignments.
“My mother was the glue that held our family together through the ups and downs and thicks and thins of our family’s politics,” Chip Carter, her son, said at the beginning of the service, the AP reports.
Carter traveled around two and a half hours from his home in Plains, Georgia, for the event and made his first public appearance since September.
His son Chip Carter previously said they were making a new suit for the service as the former president’s clothes no longer fit.
FINAL MOMENTS
The memorial came one day after Rosalynn’s remains were carried to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.
Rosalynn died on November 19 at 96 years old after she was diagnosed with dementia earlier this year.
Her final moments were shared with Jimmy, who told her he loved her and was proud of all the “wonderful things she had done,” Chip said.
The night before her death, Jimmy walked into his wife’s room and asked everyone to leave so they could have a moment alone.
“I’m sure he was praying,” Chip Carter said.
After spending the treasured final moments with his wife of 77 years, care providers helped him get into a hospital bed of his own.
Chip said they had placed their beds foot to foot so they could still be close and see each other.
The next morning, Rosalynn was unable to speak. She died at 2.30 pm.
“Tears were coming out of his eyes,” Chip Carter said.
When asked about his father’s health, Chip said he is still mentally sharp but in physical decline.
Rosalynn’s death came as a surprise to Jimmy, who always said that she would outlive him, according to the family.
“Dad told me several times over the last nine months that he had always thought he would outlive Mom and protect her until she passed, but that now he wasn’t sure that was going to happen — and that upset him,” Chip Carter said.
“But he stayed alive. We all told him how proud we were of his relationship with her and of how he looked after her.”
Rosalynn is remembered for a lifetime of advocating for honest conversations about mental and physical health.
It was this passion that inspired their family to open up about the health struggles that come with advanced age.
