Michelle Obama is sharing a deeply personal and transformative moment with her mother, Marian Robinson, a conversation that altered the former first lady’s perspective on the fleeting nature of life. The revelation happened during Obama’s appearance on NPR’s “Wild Card” podcast with host Rachel Martin, offering a glimpse into the pair’s final 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,” Obama revealed. “And her last bout of illness, she was with me in Hawaii, in our home in Hawaii, which was a blessing, right, ’cause she was forced to let me take care of her…She didn’t want to be a burden.”
During this period, Obama took on the role of caregiver, ensuring her mother received the best possible attention. She candidly discussed the practicalities, explaining, “I hired doctors and nurses, had her on a diet,” and even lightheartedly joked that she was “bossing her around” with the hope that her mother would “get better and went back to Chicago.”