【文章內容簡介】 n my husband39。s vision for this country...and I was certain he would make an extraordinary President...like any mother, I was worried about what it would mean for our girls if he got that would we keep them grounded under the glare of the national spotlight? PBS NewsHour/YouTubeFirst lady Michelle Obama addresses the DNC after being introduced by military mom Elaine Brye, from PBS would they feel being uprooted from their school, their friends, and the only home they39。d ever known?Our life before moving to Washington was filled with simple joys...Saturdays at soccer games, Sundays at grandma39。s house...and a date night for Barack and me was either dinner or a movie, because as an exhausted mom, I couldn39。t stay awake for the truth is, I loved the life we had built for our girls...I deeply loved the man I had built that life with...and I didn39。t want that to change if he became loved Barack just the way he see, even though back then Barack was a Senator and a presidential candidate...to me, he was still the guy who39。d picked me up for our dates in a car that was so rusted out, I could actually see the pavement going by through a hole in the passenger side door...he was the guy whose proudest possession was a coffee table he39。d found in a dumpster, and whose only pair of decent shoes was half a size too when Barack started telling me about his family – that39。s when I knew I had found a kindred spirit, someone whose values and upbringing were so much like see, Barack and I were both raised by families who didn39。t have much in the way of money or material possessions but who had given us something far more valuable – their unconditional love, their unflinching sacrifice, and the chance to go places they had never imagined for father was a pump operator at the city water plant, and he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when my brother and I were even as a kid, I knew there were plenty of days when he was in pain...I knew there were plenty of mornings when it was a struggle for him to simply get out of every morning, I watched my father wake up with a smile, grab his walker, prop himself up against the bathroom sink, and slowly shave and button his when he returned home after a long day39。s work, my brother and I would stand at the top of the stairs to our little apartment, patiently waiting to greet him...watching as he reached down to lift one leg, and then the other, to slowly climb his way into our despite these challenges, my dad hardly ever missed a day of work...he and my mom were determined to give me and my brother the kind of education they could only dream when my brother and I finally made it to college, nearly all of our tuition came from student loans and my dad still had to pay a tiny portion of that tuition every semester, he was determined to pay that bill right on time, even taking out loans when he fell was so proud to be sending his kids to college...and he made sure we never missed a registration deadline because his check was see, for my dad, that39。s what it meant to be a so many of us, that was the measure of his success in life – being able to earn a decent living that allowed him to support his as I got to know Barack, I realized that even though he39。d grown up all the way across the country, he39。d been brought up just like was raised by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills, and by grandparents who stepped in when she needed 39。s grandmother started out as a secretary at a munity bank...and she moved quickly up the ranks...but like so many women, she hit a glass for years, men no more qualified than she was – men she had actually trained – were promoted up the ladder ahead of her, earning more and more money while Barack39。s family continued to scrape day after day, she kept on waking up at dawn to catch the bus...arriving at work before anyone else...giving her best without plaint or she would often tell Barack, “So long as you kids do well, Bar, that39。s all that really matters.”Like so many American families, our families weren39。t asking for didn39。t begrudge anyone else39。s success or care that others had much more than they did...in fact, they admired simply believed in that fundamental American promise that, even if you don39。t start out with much, if you work hard and do what you39。re supposed to do, then you should be able to build a decent life for yourself and an even better life for your kids and 39。s how they raised us...that39。s what we learned from their learned about dignity and decency – that how hard you work matters more than how much you make...that helping others means more than just getting ahead learned about honesty and integrity – that the truth matters...that you don39。t take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules...and success doesn39。t count unless you earn it fair and learned about gratitude and humility – that so many people had a hand in our success, from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean...and we were taught to value everyone39。s contribution and treat everyone with are the values Barack and I – and so many of you – are trying to pass on to our own 39。s who we standing before you four years ago, I knew that I didn39。t want any of that to change if Barack became , today, after so many struggles and triumphs and moments that have tested my husband in ways I never could have imagined, I have seen firsthand that being president doesn39。t change who you are – it reveals who you see, I39。ve gotten to see up close and personal what being president really looks I39。ve seen how the issues that e across a President39。s desk are always the hard ones – the problems where no amount of data or numbers will get you to the right answer...the judgment calls where the stakes are so high, and there is no margin for as President, you can get all kinds of advice from all kinds of at the end of the day, when it es time to make that decision, as President, all you have to guide you are your va