Free Michelle Obama by David Colbert Page A

it. "He talked about the simple notion that we as Americans understand the world as it is—and it is a world sometimes that is disappointing and unfair—but our job as American citizens is to work toward building the world as it should be."
    Barack also understood a different side of her than anyone else did—even her family. He wrote in
The Audacity of Hope,
"There was a glimmer that danced across her round, dark eyes whenever I looked at her, the slightest hint of uncertainty, as if, deep inside, she knew how fragile things really were, and that if she ever let go, even for a moment, all her plans might quickly unravel."
    She needed someone who saw past the tough exterior to that part of her. Barack was the first. Much later, Craig, who might have known her better than anyone, said he was surprised by that insight.
    But at the end of the summer, Barack had to return to Cambridge, Massachusetts, for his second year of Harvard Law School. Could the relationship survive the distance? There would be another year after that before he was finished. For him, a long-distance relationship would be something new.
    He knew Michelle was worth it, and the relationship lasted. But these two strong personalities had different ideas about where it was leading. Michelle recalled to
New Yorker
reporter Lauren Collins, "We would have this running debate throughout our relationship about whether marriage was necessary. It was sort of a bone of contention, because I was, like, 'Look, buddy, I'm not one of these who'll just hang out forever.' You know, that's just not who I am." But Barack wasn't easily pushed, Michelle remembered. He'd say, "'Marriage, it doesn't mean anything, it's really how you feel.' And I was, like, 'Yeah, right.'"
    They dated for three years. Michelle had just about had enough when Barack took her out to a dinner at a luxurious restaurant in Chicago. It was supposed to be a celebration of his passing the bar exam, so he could practice law in Illinois. Naturally, the question came up: Law school's done, so now what? He was a little vague, and toward the end of the meal he began to repeat all the same old arguments against marriage. "He got me into one of these discussions again," she remembered. She was "fired up," and he was "blah blah blah blah" with his ideas that a piece of paper didn't make a difference.
    That was it. She'd waited long enough for him to come around. But just as she was about to tell him, she was interrupted by the waiter: "Dessert comes out, the tray comes out, and there's a ring!"
    The were married in October 1992. The wedding was almost as Michelle had always imagined it, and it was almost a perfect day. Almost. Someone she'd always thought would be there, maybe the person she counted on the most, wasn't there. As happy as she was on her wedding day, a loss had already begun to change her life in ways would that shock some of the people who knew her best.

7. WHERE THE HEART IS
    In 1991, about a year and a half before Michelle and Barack were married, Michelle's father died. He was just fifty-five years old. He'd had surgery for a kidney operation, and there were complications.
    Michelle was shattered. Although she had worried about his health for as long as she could remember, she wasn't prepared for his sudden death at such a young age.
    In his memoir
The Audacity of Hope,
Barack recalled flying back to Chicago for the funeral and holding Michelle as the casket was lowered. Right then, he made a silent promise to Fraser to take care of Michelle.
    She would need his help. She had already been shaken the year before by the death of one of her closest friends, who had died of cancer at just twenty-five.
CONSUMING PASSIONS
    Suzanne Alele had been a classmate at Princeton, where she'd arrived after a childhood as varied as Barack's: Born in Nigeria, raised in Jamaica and then Washington, D.C., she was both an athelete and a computer geek. She was less serious than Michelle, and she often