Moment of my life.

At six-foot-six, I’ve often felt like Craig and my mom here tonight. Like Craig was looking down on me too—-literally. But the truth is, both when we were kids and today, he wasn’t looking down on me—-he was watching over me.

And he’s been there for me every step of the since that dear February day 19 months ago, when—-with little more than our faith in each other and a hunger for change—-we joined my husband, Barack Obama, on the improbable journey that’s brought us to this moment.

But each of us also comes here tonight by way of our own improbably journey.

I come here tonight as a sister, blessed with a brother who is my mentor, my protector and my lifelong friend.

I come here as a wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary
President.

I come here as Mom whose girls are the heart of my heart and the center of my world—they’re the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, and the last thing I think about when I go to bed at night. Their future—-and all our children’s future—-is my stake in this election.

And I come here as a daughter—-raised on the South Side of Chicago by a father
TEXT OF MICHELLE OBAMA’S SPEECH AT THE CONVENTION CONT.

Who was a blue collar city worker, and a mother who stayed at home with my brother and me. My mother’s love has always been a sustaining force for our family, and one of my greatest joys is seeing her integrity, her compassion, and her intelligence reflected in my own daughters.

My dad was our rock. Although he was diagnosed with multiple scelerosis in his early thirties, he was our provider, our champion, our hero. As he got sicker, it got harder for him to walk, it took him longer to get dressed in the morning. But if was in pain, he never let on. He never stopped smiling and laughing—even while struggling to button his shirt, even while using two canes to get himself across the room to give my Mom a kiss. He just woke up a little earlier, and worked a little harder.

He and my mom poured everything they had into me and Craig. It was the greatest gift a child can receive: never doubting for a single minute that you’re loved, and cherished, and have a place in this world. And thanks to their faith and hard work, we both were able to go to college. So I know firsthand from their lives—that the American dream endures.

And you know, what struck me when I first met Barack was that even though he had this funny name, even though he’d grown up all the way across the continent in Hawaii, his family was so much like mine. He was raised by grandparents who were working class folks just like my parents, and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills just like we did. Like my family, they scrimped and saved so that he could have opportunities they never had themselves. And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values; that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you’re going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them, and even if you don’t agree with them.
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Text of Michelle Obama’s speech at the convention
BLUE WATER OUTLOOK
Volume 1, Issue 1
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