** Related video above: Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter celebrated their 77th wedding anniversary in July. **
(WJW) — Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalyn’s grandchildren have provided an update on their health.
“My grandparents were always entertainers,” Josh Carter told People magazine, months after Jimmy was placed in hospice and Rosalyn’s dementia diagnosis was announced. “But now we’re in a position where we have to entertain. No, it’s just a different time.”
Jimmy is 98 and Rosalyn is 96 and they have spent most of their lives together. Now they are spending their last days at home in Plains, Georgia, where they still live together holding hands, Josh said. The former president is reportedly taking the situation sharply, albeit tired, due to his wife’s failing memory.
FILE – In this February 8, 2017 photo, former President Jimmy Carter (right) and his wife Rosalyn arrive at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for a solar panel project on their farmland in their hometown of Plains, Georgia. Jimmy and Rosalyn will celebrate their 77th wedding anniversary on Friday, July 7, 2023. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
FILE – This July 15, 1976 file photo of Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalyn waving at the national convention held at Madison Square Garden in New York. Jimmy and Rosalyn will celebrate their 77th wedding anniversary on Friday, July 7, 2023. (AP photo, file)
FILE – Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter pose for a photo at their wedding in Plains, Georgia, July 7, 1946. Jimmy and Rosalyn will celebrate their 77th wedding anniversary on Friday, July 7, 2023. (Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, Carter Family Collections via AP, File)
FILE – In this December 13, 1978 file photo, President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalyn lead guests in a dance at the annual Congressional Christmas Ball at the White House in Washington. Jimmy and Rosalyn will celebrate their 77th wedding anniversary on Friday, July 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Ira Schwartz, File)
FILE – In this September 15, 1966 file photo, then-Georgia Senator Jimmy Carter hugs his wife, Rosalyn, at campaign headquarters in Atlanta. Jimmy and Rosalyn will celebrate their 77th wedding anniversary on Friday, July 7, 2023. (AP photo/file)
FILE – Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalyn Carter sit together during a reception to celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary on Saturday, July 10, 2021 in Plains, Georgia. Jimmy and Rosalyn are celebrating their 77th wedding anniversary on Friday, July. 7th, 2023. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, Poole, Files)
“I will probably lose my grandfather before my grandmother,” Josh told People magazine. “He’s in hospice care, she’s not. It’s just math.”
In a statement released in May about Rosalyn’s diagnosis, the family noted that the former First Lady was a longtime mental health advocate, and that publicizing the illness would reduce the stigma surrounding it. He said he hopes that
“We hope that sharing family news will lead to more important conversations at dining tables and in clinics across the country,” the family said.
