On October 1, Jimmy Carter celebrated turning 100 years old and became the first American president to live to be 100 years old.
His grandson informs the centenarian’s entourage that he is “very limited in what he can do” and that this “journey” is “one” he will only be able to take until “the very end” amid the festivities.
Jimmy Carter was 100 years old on October 1. Family and friends came to Plains, Georgia, his hometown, to commemorate his first birthday without his 77-year-old wife.
“We know this is the first birthday without Rosalynn. It’s bittersweet, but we also know she’s always with you,” President Joe Biden says in a birthday message to his longtime friend. “She’s in your heart; she’ll never go away. She may be gone, but she’s always going to be with you. She’s always there, and I know you know that.”
The Plains-born former first lady passed away on November 19 at the age of 96. Carter, who is wheelchair-bound, is not often seen, but he did show up for his late wife’s memorial service.
Biden, one of the first sitting senators to endorse Carter’s 1976 campaign, continues of the former Commander-in-Chief, “Even after you left office, the moral clarity you showed throughout your career showed through again in your commitment through the Carter Center and Habitat for Humanity…Put simply, Mr. President, I admire you so darn much.”
The Nobel Peace Prize winner’s hospice home in Plains, which he co-built with Rosalynn in the 1960s, served as the venue for the historic birthday celebration.
His grandson Jason tells Southern Living that it’s “the place that has given him the greatest support and it is the only place where he would go through this part of his life.” Jason continues, “That’s his home in every way, and he really cherished that time and that support.”
As the oldest son of Carter’s firstborn, Jack, who is 77 years old, Jason, a lawyer and politician, is also the eldest of 22 grandchildren.
He adds, “There is no other place in the world that he would be at peace other than Plains.”
In his interview with Southern Living, Jason speaks of his grandad’s struggles since Rosalynn died. “After 77 years of marriage… I just think none of us really understand what it’s like for him right now.” He adds, “We have to embrace that fact, that there’s things about the spirit that you just can’t understand.”
Cupcakes and jets
According to the Associated Press, Carter’s birthday celebration included scores of family members and friends, including his 74-year-old son Chip, the second child of the former first couple.
