Michelle Obama opened up about the close relationship she shares with her daughters, Malia and Sasha, and revealed that she wanted to prepare them for life without her. The 61-year-old spoke to People about how her bond with her late mother, Marian Robinson, influenced her connection with the girls, especially since the matriarch was always trying to prepare the former First Lady for her death. She shared that Marian had begun to prepare Michelle and her brother, Craig Robinson, for her inevitable passing from as early as their childhood.
“What she was doing was letting us know that she loved us, but that we could live life with and without her, and I understand that now as a parent,” she explained. “I want my daughters to know, ‘I love you, you love me, but you don’t need me. You know everything you need to know to be successful.'”
She added that in Marian’s final months of life, she leaned over to her daughter during a day spent together and told her, “Wow, that was quick”, referring to how swiftly her life flew by. “That’s all she said, but what I got from that was even in her practical-minded way, that you’re never ready. And I don’t think that she was done living. It just comes, and then life is over,” Michelle said.
“I was like, ‘Let me hear that. Let me understand that, that even with a wonderful life, I want to be present.'” Marian sadly passed away in May 2024, aged 86. The Obamas shared an emotional statement following her death, praising her for helping them raise Malia and Sasha while they lived in the White House.
Learn more about Michelle’s bond with her daughters below…
“As a grandmother, at every stage of their lives, from infancy through adulthood, she stood secondary watch over her grandchildren’s growth and development, inspiring them, listening to them, telling them she was proud of them, making them feel loved, like they were remarkable in every way,” their statement read.
“In our sadness, we are lifted up by the extraordinary gift of her life. And we will spend the rest of ours trying to live up to her example.” Now that Michelle and her husband, Barack Obama, are empty nesters, with the girls living together in Los Angeles, the mother of two shared that they are ready to focus on themselves, rather than solely on parenting.
“I think that feeling of 60 is about trying to be present in the feeling. Trying to be present in this moment in my life so that this last chapter is exactly the way I want it to be,” she explained. “There’s how you look, but it’s how you feel…I realized how much breath-holding and decision-making I was doing to ensure my girls would turn out whole.”
Michelle added that this was “the first time in my life where every single decision I make is mine”. The author shared that she wants to be “mindful” of how she spends her time, as she has “30 good summers” left, “if I’m lucky”.