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 hank
you all. (Applause.) Thank you, everybody.
Thank you very much. Thank you, darling.
Thank you, President and Mrs. Obama. Thank
you for your kindness and your consideration
today. It was really gracious of you to invite
us back to the White House to hang a few family
pictures. (Laughter.) And I'm sure you know
nothing makes a house a home like having portraits
of its former occupants staring down at you
from the walls. (Laughter.)
This is not the first time I've had the opportunity
to confront an artistic likeness of myself.
A few years ago, just after the 2008 election,
a friend sent me something he'd found in the
gift shop of the National Constitutional Center
in Philadelphia. It was a Laura Bush bobblehead
doll. (Laughter.) He said he found it on the
clearance shelf. (Laughter.)
But I'm flattered and grateful to know that
this particular work has a permanent home.
And thanks to the masterful talent of John
Howard Sanden, I like it a whole lot better
than I do that bobblehead doll. (Laughter.)
Thank you very much, John Howard Sanden—you're terrific to work with. And thanks to
Elizabeth and your family who have joined
you today. Thank you very, very much, John.
(Applause.)
And, of course, it's meaningful to me as a
private person to know that these portraits
will be on view at the White House, that my
portrait will hang just down the hall from
my mother-in-law, and that George's portrait
will hang very close to his dad's. But what's
more meaningful is it's meaningful to me as
a citizen. This was our family's home for
eight years. It was our home, but it wasn't
our house. This house belongs to the people
whose portraits will never hang here, the
ordinary and not-so-ordinary people whose
lives inspired us and whose expectations guided
us during the years that we lived here.
In this room are many of the people who stood
by us as we faced the tragedy of September
11th, and who worked with us in the years
after. Thanks to each and every one of you
for your service to our country. (Applause.)
I hope others will see in this portrait what
I see: a woman who was honored and humbled
to live in the White House during a period
of great challenge, and who will never forget
the countless American faces who make up the
true portrait of that time. Thank you all
very much. Thanks so much. And thank you,
Michelle, if you want to come up. (Applause.)
Remarks
by First Lady Michelle Obama  |
