After 100 years of positive impact, President Carter has just reunited with his beloved Rosalynn.
President Carter was a giant of moral courage. His humility, his belief in possibility, his commitment to service, his curiosity, his deep humanity, and his sheer determination to do the right thing made him a beacon for all that is good in this world.
He was loved into being by the incredible Rosalynn Carter, a 77-year partnership that shaped both of their lives for the better.
I was fortunate to spend time with them to learn more about how they built their partnership, how they weathered the ups and downs to form a deep connection that lasted decades and helped them live a long, healthy life of purpose, as seen through their extraordinary work with The Carter Center.
What a great privilege that we had the chance to sit at President Carter’s feet to learn from his love and wisdom as we incubated The Elders. When he had brain cancer in 2015, Richard and I wrote to him every day to thank him for the gifts he gave to this world. When we got to day 53, he wrote to us and said in his typical no-fuss manner, “You can stop now – I’m all better.”
Here are those “53 gifts” – which I took great joy in re-reading to remember just what an incredible human being he was. His legacy will live on for generations to come. May we all try our very best to follow even a little bit in his footsteps and lead through kindness, humility, and love.
