Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter has been diagnosed with dementia. The Carter family shared the 95-year-old's diagnosis on Tuesday, adding that she is continuing to live with her husband and former President Jimmy Carter, 98, in Plains, Georgia. Jimmy Carter was moved into hospice care in February after a series of hospital stays.
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The statement reads: "The Carter family is sharing that former First Lady Rosalynn Carter has dementia. She continues to live happily at home with her husband, enjoying spring in Plains and visits with loved ones."
The family went on to write about Rosalynn's extensive work as a mental health advocate for the majority of her life, and they hope sharing her condition will continue to break the stigma surrounding dementia.
"We recognize, as she did more than half a century ago, that stigma is often a barrier that keeps individuals and their families from seeking and getting much-needed support," the Carter family writes. "We hope sharing our family's news will increase important conversations at kitchen tables and in doctor's offices around the country."
Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn have been married since July 7, 1946, and they became the longest-married presidential couple in 2019. The two will celebrate their 77th wedding anniversary this summer.
When it comes to their secret to a long-lasting marriage, Jimmy Carter once told Oprah Winfrey that the couple allows themselves to follow their own path, and they make sure to always resolve any conflicts.
"Rosalynn has her own ideas, her own ambitions, her own goals in life, which, in some ways, are different from mine. I let her do her thing; she lets me do my thing," Carter said at the time. "And we try to resolve our inevitable and fairly frequent differences before we go to bed at night."
As the Carter Family stated, Rosalynn spent much of her time advocating for various causes, including mental health, and the Carters did much of their humanitarian work through The Carter Center.
