Susan Ford Bales knows firsthand how difficult things may be for the Carter family after Mrs. Carter is laid to rest.
“My dad died the day after Christmas. It makes Christmas very hard for me. And so I'm sure Thanksgiving will be very hard for them.”
Rosalynn Carter and Betty Ford created a unique friendship, although their husbands were in opposing political parties, and Democrat Jimmy Carter defeated Republican Gerald Ford in the 1976 election.
“They set a great example of how you can put things aside having fought each other very hard in the election and become friends.”
A lesson she says should be remembered in the divided climate of today's politics, noting members of both parties sat side by side to honor Mrs. Carter.
“How proud she would have been to see so many people from both sides of the aisle sitting there honoring her. All the First Ladies were there. If our Congress couldn't do that now, look at what we did by just honoring somebody and really drop your anger and whatever and think of what is best for the country.”
After their husbands left office, the former First Lady spent 40 years teaming up to promote awareness of substance abuse and mental health. Just two of the issues important to Rosalynn Carter.
“I was unaware of what she did for the monarch butterfly and how she got Michelle Obama to do a monarch garden at the White House. There are so many things that Mrs. Carter did to better this world, and we were all very blessed to have her as our First Lady and afterwards.”