PLAINS, Ga. — The locals just call him Jimmy, or Mister Jimmy, and before the last few months or so they'd see him around town.
But for his neighbor Gene Davis, the Carters are like family - a family that laughs and grieves together.
"He said Joe's pool room 8-ball speaking," Gene said, referring to his son who answered a phone call one day.
President Carter was on the other end of the line.
"Hello 8-ball can I speak to Bonnie," Gene recalled about how the former President answered his son right back.
But that's President Carter - always showing up with that big smile.
"He's probably the most personable memorable person you'd ever meet in this world," Gene said with tears in his eyes.
Gene is emotional - with every right, as his wife Bonnie cut the Carter's hair for years.
"They loved my wife like she was family," Gene said tearfully.
Gene lives right across the street from the Carters' property. But the families shared a lot more than a street address.
"They had cancer at the same time," he said, referring to the time President Carter battled cancer,
And for a time, they beat it at the same time too, but the disease unfortunately took Bonnie three months ago.
And now Gene has special photos, including one of Bonnie on Marine one, and letters handwritten from President Carter.
He has one to Bonnie that says 'I missed getting a hug from you'.
"So I posted it on Facebook and somebody said she'll be getting it soon," he said, referring to President Carter in hospice care.