Former First Lady Michelle Obama sat with Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on “Today with Hoda and Jenna” on Monday, Nov. 14 to discuss her newest book, “The Light We Carry.” While sharing some of the things that give her life lightness, she expressed that one of the main sources of lightness stemmed from her witnessing her two daughters Malia and Sasha grow a close bond with each other.
“The thing I love the most is that those two girls are each other’s best friend,” she said.
For Obama, there was concern about the girls enduring eight years of limelight beyond their control during the time their father, Barack Obama, served as the nation’s 44th president. She’s grateful her daughters’ experiences bonded them so closely that they decided to branch off from their parents’ home and begin navigating adulthood side by side.
Today, the girls live together in a Los Angeles apartment. As her interview progressed, Obama shared how proud she is of Sasha and Malia’s relationship transformation.
“There was a period of time where they couldn’t stand each other and I said, ‘You wait; you are gonna wake up one day and you’re gonna look over at that other person and you’re gonna know that you two share something very unique especially given what they’ve been through,’ ” Obama said.
“To see them in that place where they’re one another’s support systems and they got each other’s backs, it’s just; it’s the thing that a mother would want.”
As with all sibling relationships, the young ladies faced a few moments of bickering throughout the young adult lives. In a 2008 campaign trail interview with Maria Menounos for “Access Hollywood,” Malia and Sasha can be seen comically going back and forth after the now 24-year-old gave her opinion on how her younger sister communicated with their father via phone call.
“Sometimes I kind of feel bad for you [Barack Obama], then I’m like, ‘Come on Sash, he hasn’t seen you in like three days,’ and you’re like ‘Bye.’ I usually try to have a conversation.”
Rebutting her sister’s point, the then 7-year-old fired back with, “Malia, guess what? You don’t sit up straight. I do!”
Sasha’s smile of victory quickly faded after her older sister hit her with, “That was totally off subject.”
Some would say sibling love is a strong force to be reckoned with; through disagreements and annoyances, blood tends to be t
