Pianist David Osbourne gave an interview on November 25th, sharing memories of Rosalynn Carter and the impact she had on his life. Osbourne talked about how he had reacted to the news of Rosalynn Carter’s death.
“I haven’t worked since she died. I’ll be able to do the service, and I’ll survive this, but in many ways it’s been harder than losing parents for me. They just really are that close.”
He continued to talk about the relationship he had with them.
“I’ve played for them for 38 years. One time I sat with them and her mother for the American Association for Retired Persons when Rosalynn spoke down in Orlando.”
The event left an impression in Osbourne’s memory.
“In 1991, she spoke at the AARP national convention down in Orlando. So Rosalynn, she wanted her mother to go, but Miss Allie Smith did not want to go by herself.
He talked about how Rosalynn Carter had asked Osbourne and his wife to sit with her mother during her speech.
“She loved me enough and respected me enough to sit with her mother. By that time, Miss Allie Smith was way up in years. I was so honored.”
Osbourne recounted Rosalynn Carter’s gratitude.
“I got this handwritten letter which I had framed, ‘Thank you so much for sitting with my mother.’ Rosalynn Carter never forgot that grace of thanking people. Not just with a run of the mill thank you. Hers was always beautifully done and handwritten. That probably meant the most to me.”
Osbourne talked about the hymns he planned to play in honor of Rosalynn Carter in Atlanta, including Oh How I Love Jesus, Jesus is The Sweetest Name I Know, There’s Something About that Name, and The Wind Beneath my Wings. He also listed the songs he planned on playing in Plains.
“I’m going to do On Eagles Wings, The Old Rugged Cross, and He Lives. And then, at the end, at the very end of that service in Plains, I’m going to do Imagine by John Lennon. That was one of their favorite songs.”
Osbourne also talked about plans to play in celebration of Jimmy Carter’s hundredth birthday at Maranatha Baptist Church, speaking of how dear both of them were to him.
“I can never ever put into words how much I treasure the relationship I’ve had with them. Never. It’s one of those gifts God gave me. I had to work at it, I had to reach out and grab it, but it was placed in my lap.”
Osbourne talked about what in his opinion made the Carter’s so unique.
“Jimmy and Rosalynn, they read a chapter of the Bible every day, together. They did this every day. And when they got to the end of the Bible, they would start over again. So they knew the Bible intimately.
I’ve seen people talk about Christianity and teach it, but I have never seen anybody live it like Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. Like I said I’ve seen people preach about it, teach about it, talk about it, but they lived it. They lived their religion. Christ has to be proud of them.”
Osbourne talked about how many Rosalynn Carter’s life had influenced.
“She was one of those gifts that God gave the world, that left an indelible mark on the world. One of those few people that you can point to that that person changed the world. Not only in Sumter County or the State of Georgia, but worldwide. She just was an angel on Earth.”