Michelle Obama believes her and Barack Obama’s decades-long marriage has weathered the “ups and downs” because they “offset” each other.
In a cover story published Wednesday, Michelle explained to People magazine that had she not met her husband, “I probably would have been more still.”
“As you grow more grounded, you can be afraid to leave that sense of security and comfort,” she pointed out. “Maybe I fell into that too.”
The 62-year-old former first lady said Barack, 64, made it clear he would support her choices no matter what and helped her through the most “uncomfortable journey” of her career.
“He made me think more broadly about what I could do other than get a law degree from Harvard and become a lawyer,” she exclaims. “He gave me courage. He was my stabilizer. He was like, ‘I’ve got you.’
“No matter how hard it was, no matter the ups and downs, he supported me,” Michelle added. “He says, ‘Try new things and take a leap of faith.'” The reason I’m able to do so many of these things is because I know that if I slip, fall, or stumble, he’ll catch me. ”
Conversely, Barack praised Michelle for keeping him “grounded and grounded.”
The politician told the outlet: “This woman was a unique woman of integrity, character, intelligence and values who made me better. Just being with her made me better, and she still does.”
He joked that they had not had an “equal partnership” in their 33 years of marriage, saying: “I’m sure I’ve gotten more out of it than she has, but it’s worked out very well for me. For her, it’s probably more complicated.”
The former president also praised Michelle for giving his daughters Malia, 27, and Sasha, 25, “a foundation that will pay dividends in the long term.”
The couple are now entering a “new phase” as empty nesters.
“Our kids are grown. They’re out,” she told listeners of the IMO podcast in March. “We look at each other like, ‘Hey, I remember you.’ Now I’m not mad about anything. You don’t have to do anything for me.”
The author said both she and Barack needed to figure out what they wanted in this next chapter, which she dubbed “a whole new challenge.”
Michelle revealed in January that the two have been undergoing years of couples therapy to keep their marriage on track.
“I believe in the habit of having conversations with objective people who can help you figure things out. It’s an ongoing process,” she explained on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.
“I’ve come to realize that I can’t control him, just like he can’t control me,” she elaborated at the time. “So let me do my job, let him do our job, and together we come together as a whole human being.”
Michelle and Barack first met at a law firm in the late 1980s and married in 1992.
They welcomed Malia in July 1998 and Sasha in June 2001.
