The nearly week-long state funeral for Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, is about to begin, and Americans have gathered to mourn the 39th President of the United States.

Saturday’s march from Carter’s home in Plains, Georgia, to Atlanta marked the start of a six-day public farewell for the politician, who died last month at age 100.

Carter will fly to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, where he will be laid to rest at the U.S. Capitol and a ceremony will be held on Thursday that will include remarks by the former U.S. president.

Hundreds of Georgians and people from around the world gathered in Atlanta this weekend to pay their respects to the Carter family.

Among those who came Saturday was Heather Brooks, an Atlanta resident and a “great admirer” of the Democratic Party.

Ms Brooks told the BBC: “(I) found him always friendly, got along with people, a wonderful person who did a lot for the world and not just the United States.”

She said she had met Carter several times and described him as “powerful but so humble.”

Carter Center director Paige Alexander told the BBC that Carter should be remembered for his “sincerity and integrity”.

“I mean, at the end of the day, there’s a politician who says in the debate, ‘The Honorable President Ford and I disagree on these issues,'” Ms. Alexander said. “You can’t hear it now.”

The lawn outside the Carter Center was filled with flowers, handwritten tributes and bags of peanuts from Carter’s early days growing peanuts on the plains.

Those who knew the former president, including Jill Starkey, a longtime friend of the Carter family, said she will miss him and his wife, Rosalynn, for their commitment to helping others.

Ms Starkey said the couple were committed to this “until the day they die”.

“I don’t know how we would adapt to a world without President Carter,” she told the BBC.

On Saturday, the motorcade passed the Methodist Church, where the Carters were married in 1946 and the home where they lived and died.

The former president will be buried here with Rosalind, who died at the end of 2023 at the age of 96.

The parade also stopped in front of Carter’s childhood home and the family farm outside Plains. The site is now part of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Park, which rang the old farm bell 39 times on Saturday to honor the 39th president.

The motorcade then stopped at the Georgia Capitol for a moment of silence, led by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.

Mourners will visit Carter at the Presidential Library on January 5 and January 6 before he flies to Washington, D.C., on January 7.

He will be laid to rest for two days in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, where the public can pay their respects.

A celebration of his life will be held on January 9 at the Washington National Cathedral, with several former presidents in attendance.

In addition to the political praise Carter will receive in the coming days, there will also be personal tributes from his extended family.

For Jason Carter, the former president’s grandson, what he especially misses are the personal connections he had with people.

“I think he was a beacon of love and respect to a lot of people in this country, and I think that’s worth celebrating,” former Georgia Senator Jason Carter told the BBC.