After cancer diagnosis, Jimmy Carter didn't think he'd live 'longer than 2 or 3 more weeks'

(Image credit: Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images)

published 23 August 2016

At 91 and 89, respectively, Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter are still rolling up their sleeves and building homes with Habitat for Humanity.

The Carters are among 1,500 volunteers building 19 new homes in the Memphis neighborhood of Bearwater. Jimmy Carter, who will celebrate his 92nd birthday in October, worked for several hours on Monday morning, measuring, hammering, leveling, and raising walls. Now in remission after being diagnosed last year with Stage IV melanoma, Carter said he "feels good," and is grateful to still be alive. "A year ago, I didn't think I'd live longer than two or three more weeks," he said. "I put on a false, optimistic face. I was hoping I would. God has blessed me in so many ways and this is one of them."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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