Attribution: National Archives and Records Administration , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper as he reviews how his life was given meaning by the women in it– to this very day as Phyllis assumes the burden of getting him through the day with a minimum of stumbling and pratfalls.
Even Rosalynn Carter made a womanly contribution many years ago with a brief conversation as she and Jimmy and the keeper floated down the Mississippi on the Delta Queen, telling the keeper at breakfast that it was her 52nd birthday and the President had given her a trout fishing vest and a creel.
Later, the keeper reports, Rosalynn was quick to tell Jimmy what she had told the keeper when the POTUS seemed less that pleased at the keeper knowing about the birthday gift as he and the keeper exchanged fish stories at the DQ rail.
It was such a wonderful and rare experience with a most remarkable couple that it has loomed large through these many years.
Now on the occasion of Rosalynn’s death the memory shines once again, and the keeper quotes Jimmy: “As long as Rosalynn is alive there will be one person around who loves and respects me.”
The keeper joins the world in extending heartfelt sympathy to Jimmy, and begs to borrow Jimmy’s statement and apply it to Phyllis.
Photo by Bill Stokes