Overview
- Speaking on Nov. 5 at People Inc.’s headquarters, Obama recounted how her mother leaned over near the end of her life and said, “Wow, that was quick,” clarifying “Life.”
- Obama said she now tells Malia, 27, and Sasha, 24, that they don’t need her to succeed because they already know what they need to thrive.
- Entering her 60s, she described a new autonomy in which every decision is hers, calling this her “last chapter” and noting, “If I’m lucky, I live to 90 and that’s 30 good summers.”
- She noted Marian Robinson had long prepared her and her brother, Craig, for life without her; Robinson died in May 2024 at 86 and was deeply involved in helping raise her granddaughters.
- Obama added a small ritual of continuity by saying she plans to keep coloring her gray hair, a habit she learned from her mother.