Jimmy Carter’s eldest grandchild shares health update as former president nears 16 months in hospice

It’s been 479 days since Jimmy Carter entered hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia.

Although the former president’s family initially believed he would only live a few days, Carter, at 99 years old, has defied the odds.

“God had other plans,” Jason Carter, 48, said.

Jason, the oldest of the Jimmy and Rosalynn’s 22 grandchildren, recently shared an update with Southern Living on the health of the 39th president.

According to the oldest grandchild, there’s “really been no change” in the last few months.

WASHINGTON – OCTOBER 04: Former US President Jimmy Carter listens during the kick-off of an all-week construction project to mark the World Habitat Day and the annual Habitat for Humanity Carter Work Project October 4, 2010 in the Ivy City neighborhood of Washington, DC. Carter was recently released from an Ohio hospital after being treated for a viral infection. Under the project a total of 86 homes will be built, rehabilitated or repaired in Washington, DC; Baltimore and Annapolis, Maryland; Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota; and Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

After nearly 16 months under hospice care, the last seven without his wife of 77 years, Carter is “experiencing the world as best he can as he continues through this process.”

“After 77 years of marriage… I just think none of us really understand what it’s like for him right now,” Jason said.. “We have to embrace that fact, that there’s things about the spirit that you just can’t understand.”

While family continue to visit the former president at his home in Plains, they find it difficult to predict what kind of day Carter will have.

More often than not, Carter spends his days sleeping.

However, a few weeks ago Jason visited his grandfather and the two watched an Atlanta Braves game and talked about the Carter Center and their family.

“I told him, I said: ‘Pawpaw, you know, when people ask me how you’re doing I say, ‘honestly I don’t know,’” Jason remembered. “And he kind of smiled and he said ‘I don’t know, myself.’”

Jimmy Carter is in my prayers every single day. Please share to keep him and his family in yours.

Uncovering the Mysteries of the Lake in Oklahoma

Residents of Oklahoma found a mysterious hard sac-like ‘egg’ hanging from the tree roots at the lake, but scientists are now calming the locals, who immediately jumped to conclusions of alien proportions, by explaining that it’s an ancient creature

These creatures have found the right space and environment, so its likely they'll be around a lot this summer

These creatures have found the right space and environment, so its likely they’ll be around a lot this summer.

Locals in Oklahoma discovered large, jelly-like sacs with a hard exterior hanging from tree roots; they immediately thought the answer was extraterrestrial. Or at least not good news.

But scientists, reassuring the public, have said that the locals in the area got a rare treat – the glimpse of the reproductive system of an ancient animal that’s been around since before the dinosaurs.

Immediately, locals put it up online, and spectators began commenting on the extraterrestrial-looking eggs. But scientists say that the creatures were simple bryozoans. They’ve been around for hundreds of millions of years, before the first dinosaurs roamed the planet. The animals may actually be good news for the lake.

a egg sac looking creature

These bizarre creatures are actually hundreds of tiny bryozoans.

egg sac looking creature

Officials reassured the public that the animals are absolutely supposed to be there 

Bryozoans clone themselves into large masses to filter tiny particles out of the water for food, cleaning up the lake. The critters normally reside in ponds and lakes. This time, it was found in McGee Creek Reservoir, located on the southwest edge of the Ouachita Mountain Range.

Bryozoan clumps aren’t an egg or just one animal at all. They form this hard shell as they are hundreds of creatures banded together. The pods, known as zooids, are each a fraction of a millimeter long. They lack any respiratory or circulatory systems, but their central nerve ganglion allows the animal to respond to stimuli.

floating pod-like creatures below the surface of the water

These pods are hanging from tree roots, and actually help clean the lake

The tiny invertebrates possess both male and female reproductive organs, allowing them to self-clone and spread through clumps of cells on the organism known as statoblasts.

Each statoblast can reproduce asexually. They do this by breaking off from a colony, allowing the animal to reproduce rapidly if the space and the weather are suitable. The animals eat phytoplankton and bacteria lurking in water.

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Fossil records suggest they may have evolved from an ancient marine worm. Their grandparents, ancient bryozoans, date back as far as 470 million years. For perspective, dinosaurs came around 245 million years ago.

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) shared the photos on social media. “What is that??? If you’re out boating somewhere like McGee Creek Reservoir you may notice these strange jelly-like balls hanging from submerged tree limbs,” begins the post.

“These are Bryozoans, and they’ll likely show up in large numbers this summer. Don’t be alarmed these microorganisms are native and are of no danger to you or wildlife. In fact, they are an indicator of good environmental quality and clear water!”

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