Michelle Obama her late mother Marian Robinson
Dear Commons Community,
Michelle Obama gave an interview during which she discussed her mother, Marian Robinson. She reveals what her mother told her that changed her perspective on the finality of life. Here is a review of her interview courtesy of People Magazine.
The former first lady, 61, revealed on NPR’s Wild Card podcast with host Rachel Martin that she’s “not afraid” of death, as she explained how her late mother Marian Robinson — who died in May 2024 at age 86 — reminded her of the importance of “living a good life” during one of their last days together.
“The last year of my mom’s life, she was sick. Her body was just shutting down for a number of various reasons. And her last bout of illness, she was with me in Hawaii, in our home in Hawaii, which was a blessing, right,” Obama said. “‘Cause she was forced to let me take care of her…She didn’t want to be a burden.”
Around that time, Obama hired “doctors” and “nurses,” had her mother on a “diet” and joked that she was “bossing her around” until she “got better and went back to Chicago.” One day, the mother-daughter duo were sitting on a couch and watching one of Robinson’s favorite “court shows” when she shared a valuable lesson with Obama.
“She was realizing that she would not ever be the same old self that she was. She was starting to realize she’s coming to the end,” Obama said. “And this woman that prepared me for death and talked to me about all this stuff and was like, ‘I’m ready to die, who needs to be old people around too long’ and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. She leaned over to me and said, ‘Wow, this went fast.’ “
“I held her hand and said, ‘What are you talking about?’ And she said, ‘Life.’ She said, ‘This went fast.’ And this is the woman who was ready,” the former first lady added. “And what that told me is even when you tell yourself you’re ready, if you’re living a good life, you’re never really ready for it to end. So I hope I feel that way. Even though I’ve been ready for it, because it’s been good and purposeful. That I’ll feel like, ‘I wish I had more time.’ So I’m trying to live my life like that.”
Elsewhere during her appearance on Wild Card, Obama detailed her thoughts on death and why she tries to be “mindful” of the time she has left.
“As we get older, look — and my husband thinks this is morbid — but at 61, if I am lucky, if I am truly blessed, [I have] 25 more summers,” she said.
“We’ve been out of office for 10 years,” she added of herself and husband, Barack Obama. “What happened? What happened to those 10 years? I did a lot. Two, three books. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. There’s a lot that happened but it went by fast. And I’m at the stage of life where I want the next 10 years to go by slowly. Cause’ guess what? I love life.”
“But what I feel is that if I’m not mindful about it, the years slip away,” she continued. “And you wind up spending a year doing what? Did you do anything you wanted to? Did you spend time with the people you wanted to spend time with, doing the things that you wanted to do?”
Michelle announced on May 31, 2024 that her mother “passed away peacefully,” as the Obama family shared in a statement at the time that they “will spend the rest of ours trying to live up to her example.”
Days later, Michelle wrote in a message on X that she was grateful for “all the prayers, kind words, and love” from their supporters amid the news.
“Every text, comment on social media, and beautiful tribute has brought us some light,” she wrote. “It means so much to hear what a special woman she was to you all, as well. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.”
We were so lucky to have Michelle and her mother’s presence in the White House for eight years.
Tony
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