Michelle Obama tearfully shared three words her dying mother said that have changed the way she looks at life.
The 61-year-old former First Lady’s mother, Marian Robinson, who had become a fixture in the family unit while they were in the White House, died in May 2024 at 86.
While speaking with NPR’s Rachel Martin on the “Wild Card” podcast, Obama opened up about her mother’s final moments, including some of the wisdom she imparted before she died.
Obama recalled taking care of her mother during her final year at their family’s home in Hawaii when Robinson revealed her thoughts on dying to her daughter.
“She was realizing that she will 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 old people around too long,’ and 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?’” Obama continued. “And she said, ‘Life.’ She said, ‘This went fast.’”
Obama began to understand then that even if a person feels ready for the end, especially if they’ve led a good life, “you’re never really ready for it to end.”
She added, “I hope I feel that way — even though I will be 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.”
She reflected on the last decade since her husband Barack left office, including sending her adult daughters, Malia, 26, and Sasha, 24, both to college, the release of multiple books and the launch of her podcast with her brother, “IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson.”
“I did a lot,” she noted. “Two, three books, 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. Because guess what? I love life.”
The podcast host and author said her mother’s reflection has profoundly impacted how she views time in her own life.
“My husband thinks this is morbid — but at 61, if I am lucky, if I am truly blessed, I have like, 25 more summers,” she expressed.
“With 25 more summers, I want to feel each one of them,” she continued. “A day of nothing is one of those nice, slow days where you look up and go, ‘Oh man, it’s only noon.’ I want more of those.”
Just months after her mother’s passing, on what would have been her 87th birthday in July 2024, Obama penned an emotional tribute to Robinson that celebrated her for always “feeling like she was enough.”
“And because she felt like she was enough, she could help others feel that, too,” she continued. “She did that countless times for me and my brother, Craig. She did it for her family and friends. She did it for the staff at the White House. She did it for everyone she knew.”
