Thank You, Obama Family!

I have been dreading this day since the man I will leave nameless won the 2016 Presidential election.  Of course, we all knew President Obama and the First Family’s time would be coming to an end, but it’s hitting me especially hard now that the time is actually here.

Saying that I am going to miss them is a gross understatement.  While depression and sadness are setting in and hitting me like a million tons of bricks, there are some things I am thankful for.

I am thankful that my parents lived long enough to witness the election of the country’s first Black President.  My parents were born in 1938 and 1941.  Both were born in the south.  Both came of age and lived through the 1950s and 1960s during the height of the Civil Rights movement.  Never in their wildest dreams did they think they would live to see Barack Obama.  My father passed away just a couple weeks after the 2008 election, but my mother was front and center at President Obama’s first inauguration in 2009.  She lived to see and experience Black history.  What a blessing!

I am thankful that young Black girls all over the country had a positive role model in our First Lady Michelle Obama … a beautiful chocolate sistah from the southside of Chicago that sprinkled Black Girl Magic everywhere she went and to everything she touched.  She stayed slaying, and we love her for it.  I have said it a million times, and I will say it a million more.  Michelle Obama didn’t just break the First Lady mold.  She shattered the ding dang thing. 

The Obamas survived.  I’m not just talking about all the vicious personal attacks they have endured over the last 8 years.  They are leaving the White House with their lives.  I can’t be the only one who said prayers of protection over the Obama family, who held their breath when President Obama first got into office, and who gave much-deserved side eyes for all the security breaches with the Secret Service that never seemed to occur with past presidents.  They made it out … alive.  Thank God for that.

We loved Barack and Michelle’s love.  Time and time again and over and over again, we saw countless examples of how much they love each other.  Their love is a beautiful thing that gives us all the feels.  Who can forget this picture of President Obama admiring Michelle?

And when he gave her a shout out during his farewell speech last week?  I made it through his whole speech without shedding a tear until that moment.  

We were able to watch Malia and Sasha grow to be beautiful, intelligent young women right before our very eyes.  No scandals.  No issues.  Even though they also had to endure their unfair share of personal attacks, they did it with dignity and grace.  They make all of us play aunts and uncles all over the country very proud. 

Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you to the Obama family.  You are loved.  You will be sorely missed.  We are forever grateful for your service, for your patriotism, for your perseverance, for your dedication, and for your courage.  

Somebody pass me a box of Kleenex.