‘Surreal experience’: How a 4-year-old in Fort Worth got to tour Rosalynn Carter’s plane
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When Colby Moss learned that former first lady Rosalynn Carter died Sunday, he wanted to share his memories of meeting her.
Moss, who lives in Fort Worth, was 4 years old and a “poster child” for United Way of Tarrant County when Rosalyn Carter visited North Texas in 1978.
“It was a surreal experience,” Moss said. “I didn’t understand then everything that was going on. I knew who she was.”
Moss, now 49, was born with cerebral palsy and took part in the United Way’s year-long campaign.
Carter was in Garland campaigning for U.S. Senate candidate Bob Krueger and Rep. Jim Mattox, but took time to talk to Moss.
“She couldn’t have been nicer; she was so kind,” he remembers.
Moss recalled the first lady talking to him and to his parents.
The highlight came when Carter asked him if he wanted to tour her plane.
At first the Secret Service agents would not let his father accompany him, Moss said, until they learned that he could not walk up the steps.
“When they got ready to leave, she asked me if she could have a kiss. I looked at her and said yes m’am and kissed her on the cheek, it was pretty special,” Moss said.
The pilot gave Moss his wings, but they were stolen several years later when their home was burglarized, he said.
Moss went on to graduate from Western Hills High School and attend college. He now works with a Christian rock band out of Nashville called For King + Country.
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Rosemary Moss said her son meeting the first lady was one of the highlights of the year-long United Way campaign.
She recalled how Carter took time to talk to her family and visit with her son.
“She made us feel like we were the only ones there,” Rosemary Moss said. “She wasn’t in a hurry, but the people with her wanted her to hurry.”
When she heard that Carter passed away, she started crying. “I always loved her. I cared for her very much,” she said, describing her admiration for her working with her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, to help people throughout the world.
