Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter passing away this week - 100 years young....
He was the first president I got to vote for: I turned 18 a month before the election, Whew!
He came to the state where I lived, to campaign: he was set to appear and speak in the biggest city down in the southeast corner. I and two friends from school asked my dad to drive us down there to hear him.
After he talked about issues that were current at the time, he said, "We haven't had a farmer in the White House since Thomas Jefferson; I think it's about time we had another one."
And the crowd roared.
He reached out from the stage as if to shake hands with everyone. At the front, we reached our hands up, and he swept his hand in an arc, touching as many fingertips as possible.
Years later, I read something where he quoted a line from a Bob Dylan song.
He spent the years after his presidency working for projects such as Habitat For Humanity - (doing things to help; not boasting about himself).
He was a good person.
-30-