Michelle Obama Reveals Words Her Mom Said Before Her Death, and How She's Preparing Her Own Daughters to Live Without Her (Exclusive) Greta BjornsonNovember 5, 2025 at 6:20 PM 0 ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Michelle Obama and her mother Marian Robinson on Sept. 6, 2012. Michelle Obama appeared at People Inc.'s exclusive inperson event at People Inc. headquarters in New York City, where she spoke to her friend La La Anthony about her new book, The Look, which came out Nov.
- - Michelle Obama Reveals Words Her Mom Said Before Her Death, and How She's Preparing Her Own Daughters to Live Without Her (Exclusive)
Greta BjornsonNovember 5, 2025 at 6:20 PM
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ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty
Michelle Obama and her mother Marian Robinson on Sept. 6, 2012. -
Michelle Obama appeared at People Inc.'s exclusive in-person event at People Inc. headquarters in New York City, where she spoke to her friend La La Anthony about her new book, The Look, which came out Nov. 4
Obama reflected on her relationship with her mother, Marian Robinson, while discussing her approach to aging now that she's in her 60s
The former first lady said a conversation she had with Robinson not long before her death inspired how she's approaching her own "last chapter" in life
Michelle Obama says she had the ultimate role model for aging: her own mother, the late Marian Robinson.
Obama, 61, appeared on Wednesday, Nov. 5, at People Inc.'s exclusive in-person event at People Inc. headquarters in New York City, where she spoke to her friend La La Anthony about her new book, The Look, which came out Nov. 4. During the event, Obama recalled one of the final conversations she had with her mother, who died at age 86 in 2024.
The former first lady joked that her mom had been preparing her and brother Craig Robinson for her death since Obama was 10 years old, but she now understands why.
"What she was doing was letting us know that she loved us, but that we could live life with and without her, and I understand that now as a parent," said Michelle, who shares daughters Malia, 27, and Sasha, 24, with her husband, former President Barack Obama.
Michelle explained, "I want my daughters to know, 'I love you, you love me, but you don't need me. You know everything you to be successful.' "
When her mother became sick and neared the end of her life, Michelle spent more time with her and cared for her. One day, as they sat on the couch watching TV, Michelle said Marian leaned over to tell her, "Wow, that was quick."
When her daughter asked what she meant, Marian replied, "Life."
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Michelle Obama
"That's all she said, but what I got from that was even in her practical-minded way, that you're never ready. And I don't think that she was done living. It just comes, and then life is over," Michelle said. "I was like, 'Let me hear that. Let me understand that, that even with a wonderful life, I want to be present.' "
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Michelle Obama on the cover of PEOPLE magazine.
The Becoming author, who turned 60 last January, told Anthony, "I think that feeling of 60 is about trying to be present in the feeling. Trying to be present in this moment in my life so that this last chapter is exactly the way I want it to be."
To mark the occasion of his wife's milestone birthday, Barack took a photo of Michelle posing in a yellow dress. At the Wednesday event, Michelle said he had snapped the photo during a trip to Greece, and told the audience she felt liberated in that moment.
"There's how you look, but it's how you feel," she said. "My feeling in that photo was free, completely free to be me."
She's now at a stage "that women have to earn because of all that we carry," she explained. "I realized how much breath-holding and decision making I was doing to ensure my girls would turn out whole."
Now, said the former first lady, "This is the first time in my life where every single decision I make is mine. It's what I want to do. ... What do I want, what do I feel? This is the first time that I've been able to do that for me, no excuses. That means that the consequences are mine, too, and there's a freedom with that."
Michelle also said she knew her 60s meant, "If I'm lucky, I live to 90 and that's 30 good summers," so she wants to be "mindful" of how she spends this portion of her life.
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While speaking to PEOPLE for her recent cover story, Michelle said she's fully embracing her new decade, but admitted she's making one change as she ages.
"I'm coloring that gray hair," she said. "I'm not wincing [when I see one], but I'm not leaving it there long."
In fact, it's a tradition Marian passed down to her. "My mother was the same way," Michelle said. "My mother dyed her hair until the day she died. She had a beautiful sandy color blonde that mixed in well with the gray. I was like, 'Yeah, I'm going to be doing that too.' "
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Source: Entertainment
Published: November 06, 2025 at 01:36AM on Source: MARIO MAG
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