In a heartfelt moment, Madame Michelle Obama invoked the influence of her family on her life and success. A lucky few high school graduates in Washington, D.C. experienced her moving speech first-hand at their commencement ceremony Friday.Associated Press reports:
Her voice cracking and eyes filled with tears, first lady Michelle Obama remembered her parents’ sacrifices for their two children and how they pushed for success as she urged high school graduates to claim their destiny.
Mrs. Obama addressed students, parents and faculty of The Academies at Anacostia at the school’s graduation ceremony Friday at the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall, not far from the White House. She said she would not have been standing at the podium if her parents had not encouraged her and her brother, Craig Robinson, to dream big.
“I remember my mom pushing me and my brother to do things she’d never done herself; things she’d been afraid to do herself,” the first lady said. “What I can remember is my father getting up every day and going to work at the water filtration plant, even after he was diagnosed with MS, even after it got hard for him to button his shirt, and to get up and walk. See, I remember my parents sacrificing for us, pouring everything they had into us, being there for us, encouraging us to reach for a life they never knew.”
Michelle Obama’s father, Fraser, is deceased. Her mother, MarianRobinson, lives at the White House with the first family.
