Former first lady Rosalynn Carter has been diagnosed with dementia, her family revealed Tuesday.
Carter, 95, was continuing to live “happily at home with her husband,” former President Jimmy Carter, in rural Plains, Ga.
The 39th president, 98, has been receiving hospice care at the couple’s home since February.
Their grandson said last week that Jimmy Carter was receiving updates on his eponymous humanitarian foundation, welcoming visitors and eating lots of peanut butter ice cream.
“They’re just meeting with family right now, but they’re doing it in the best possible way: the two of them together at home,” Jason Carter said of Jimmy and Rosalynn, who were married in the summer of 1946.
“They’ve been together 70-plus years.”
The Carter Center noted in a press release that throughout her life, Rosalynn “urged improved access to care and decreased stigma about issues surrounding mental health,” which is impaired by dementia.
“We hope sharing our family’s news will increase important conversations at kitchen tables and in doctor’s offices around the country,” the family statement said.
“Mrs. Carter often noted that there are only four kinds of people in this world: those who have been caregivers; those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers,” it added. “The universality of caregiving is clear in our family, and we are experiencing the joy and the challenges of this journey. We do not expect to comment further and ask for understanding for our family and for everyone across the country serving in a caregiver role.”
Jimmy is the oldest living president in US history, and Rosalynn is the second-oldest first lady, behind Bess Truman, who died in 1982 at the age of 97.
The Carters are also the longest-married first couple in American history.
The Carters have four children — Jack, James III, Donnel and Amy — and 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.