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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJimmy Carter's Long Goodbye
The former president is on the verge of having spent a year in hospice care, once again confounding expectations in a life that has lasted nearly a century.
Mr. Carter entered hospice care one year ago Sunday, choosing to forgo further life-prolonging treatment with the intent to return to his simple home in Plains, Ga., to pass his final days in comfort and peace. As it turns out, there have been more final days than he or anyone around him anticipated.
The former presidents long goodbye has defied the odds and absorbed many around the world who have spent the last 12 months honoring his memory even as he has refused to follow anyone elses timetable. Hospice care is meant to ease the end for both patient and family, prescribed for those with less than six months to live. About half of those who enter hospice care last no more than 17 days. Just 6 percent are still alive a year later. Mr. Carter, the only president ever to live to age 99, seems destined to keep pushing the limits.
Hes been a record-breaker for decades the oldest-living president, the longest-married president, said Jill Stuckey, a longtime friend from Plains who visits him regularly. Its always been on President Carters terms. Thats how hes living, and thats how hes going to die.
His endurance at the end may serve as a rejoinder to those who never recognized his tenacity. Carter once told me that he thought the biggest misconception about him was that he is weak, said Jonathan Alter, author of His Very Best, a biography of Mr. Carter. He wasnt, as either a person or a president. In truth, this slight man called Peewee as a boy is a person of extraordinary toughness and grit.
The one-year anniversary of entering hospice care is not marked as if it were a holiday, but by chance for Mr. Carter it will fall the day before Presidents Day, so Ms. Stuckeys park will host a discussion of his life.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/17/us/politics/jimmy-carter-hospice-anniversary.html
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Alice Kramden
(2,262 posts)I admire him enormously
senseandsensibility
(18,612 posts)Honestly that's all I can think of to say. Besides, for some reason my eyes are watering and it's hard to type.
keithbvadu2
(38,166 posts)cilla4progress
(25,332 posts)good man!
spanone
(136,797 posts)❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Raine
(30,565 posts)I love this guy so much. ❤️
byronius
(7,468 posts)Still proud of it.
sueh
(1,839 posts)He's a strong and kind, gracious man. We won't see another like him, but I hope I'm wrong about that.
TomSlick
(11,359 posts)debm55
(27,470 posts)Layzeebeaver
(1,792 posts)I hope he gets that satisfaction.
Along with us all.
From The Ashes
(2,645 posts)My first presidential vote was for him in 1980. I'm STILL pissed that he lost to Reagan.
Jack-o-Lantern
(1,004 posts)Way down deep I wish there were some kind of a blissful afterlife that would receive such a good man as Jimmy.
TomSlick
(11,359 posts)He will find strength and comfort in his belief even if he is wrong.
Evolve Dammit
(17,508 posts)MustLoveBeagles
(12,136 posts)Underrated and unappreciated presidents
et tu
(1,295 posts)history, story telling, has been written
and skewed by the money grubbers~
PlutosHeart
(1,390 posts)He is one of the best examples of service to the community and the planet.
Bless.
Pas-de-Calais
(9,944 posts)He gave the 1st largest federal pay increase.
Effing GOP & Reagan/Bush for fixing Iran prisoner release for after the election.
If it was done prior, the way it was meant to, Carter would have been a 2 term.
mn9driver
(4,475 posts)![](/emoticons/patriot.gif)
Butterflylady
(3,726 posts)Use Jimmy Carter as your role model.
1. Be kind
2. Love your fellow man
3. Help the poor and elderly
4. Be humble
5. Give of yourself
Jimmy Carter is all of the above plus more. He has more morals in his little finger than you know who has in his whole body.
Who am I kidding, you know who has no morals at all.
LittleGirl
(8,299 posts)I voted for and unfortunately, he did not win reelection. Damn shame. Where would our country be if Jimmy Carter had had another 4 years? He had that dutiful heart for his fellow humans and would have made America a beacon of joy for the world to admire and emulate. Instead, we got a hollywood fraudster that took away free college in CA, he destroyed unions, and he negotiated with traitors for our fellow citizens held hostage and disgraced our highest office. Then 45 happened.
What could have been...
Botany
(71,213 posts)
. but gone. 99.99 % gone
https://www.cartercenter.org/health/guinea_worm/index.html
Our Goal
Since 1986, The Carter Center has led the international campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease, working closely with ministries of health and local communities, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and many others.
Guinea worm disease could become the second human disease in history, after smallpox, to be eradicated. It would be the first parasitic disease to be eradicated and the first disease to be eradicated without the use of a vaccine or medicine.
Guinea worm is a particularly devastating disease that incapacitates people for extended periods of time, making them unable to care for themselves, work, grow food for their families,
Snip
The Carter Center works to eradicate Guinea worm in five countries affected by the disease: Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, and South Sudan.
FailureToCommunicate
(14,158 posts)My wife and I were visiting friends in D.C. We were walking out and near the Capitol the night of President Carter's inaugural. The President Elect and Rosalynn were motoring between the various galas and balls. Suddenly, these men jumped out of a car, and told our little group to stop and stay where were we were on the corner. The new President's limousine slowed, and turned, right in front of us. We could clearly see them both in the rear seat. Rosalynn and Jimmy waved enthusiastically at us. OUR faces must've looked stunned, but I will NEVER forget the joy, and friendliness, in their happy faces.
R.I.P. Rosalynn.
Godspeed President Jimmy Carter
Donkees
(31,727 posts)Feb 18, 2024
The former president's grandson says his grandfather, who has witnessed massive transformations in the world during the past century, maintains his spirit thanks to his unwavering adherence to principles of faith and respect for others.
Rec
elocs
(22,852 posts)malaise
(272,394 posts)Go Jimmy Go! Defy the odds some more.
Srkdqltr
(6,837 posts)I imagine millions of eyes on him , waiting, waiting for him to die. A collective sigh of relief when he is gone.
I'm in a mood this morning
FlyingPiggy
(3,516 posts)twodogsbarking
(10,699 posts)struggle4progress
(118,701 posts)and we're really sorry Rosalynn had to go home so early
bernieb
(52 posts)You showed the world what it means to be a REAL Christian.