The Obamas have kept a relatively low profile since leaving office in January, other than totally crushing vacation, but President Obama came out of the woodwork to show off a heartfelt letter they received. The letter, posted to The Obama Foundation’s Medium page, sings high praise for Michelle on International Women’s Day.
The letter, from a woman named Sindhu with the subject line “I’m In,” details the author’s experience of a speech she attended in 1996 that changed her life. The speech helped to mold her into a person who is “passionate about behavioral sciences and psychiatry, serves children and adults struggling with mental illness.” The speaker on that fateful day was Michelle Obama, and the author thanked her for being her:
“I wanted to say thank you to the both of you. Thank you, Michelle, for helping a vulnerable teenager raised to comply to start to challenge the notion that she was powerless. Thank you, Michelle, for teaching by both words and example that the best uses of power and influence are in the service of others and our community. Thank you to both of you for your profound levels of activism within our community, leading up to a historic event that I did not think I would witness in my lifetime. Thank you for how you treated children, both your own and all of America’s, with kindness, humor, and spontaneity.”
The author went on to praise Michelle for her role model status, especially since many stand behind her on International Women’s Day:
“The ways in which you have impacted the world have left me expecting so much more from our world. And I know that this is not an expectation I can have without being part of that change. The events from this week, this amazing women’s march, echoed globally that the expectations I have are not ones I hold in isolation. I want a different world. I need a different world.”
It’s a sentiment that can warm even the coldest of hearts. You can read the entire letter by clicking here.
(Via Medium)