Washington (CNN)Former President Barack Obama revealed Monday night how emotional it was to bid farewell to his eldest daughter, Malia, when she went away to college this fall.
“I was proud that I did not cry in front of her,” Obama joked. “But on the way back, the Secret Service was off, looking straight ahead, pretending they weren’t hearing me as I sniffled and blew my nose. It was rough.”
Obama said the moment was “a reminder that, at the end of our lives, whatever else we’ve accomplished, the things that we’ll remember are the joys that our children — and hopefully way later, our grandchildren — bring us.”
Obama has spoken in the past of how much fatherhood has meant to him. In his presidential farewell address, the 44th president told his brothers: “Of all that I’ve done in my life, I am most proud to be your dad.”
“It is proper and right that somebody as thoughtful and genuine and strong as Beau made it one of his missions that every child has protection,” Obama said.
Former Vice President Joe Biden thanked Obama for his support of this foundation, which was created in 2015 to honor his late son’s heritage in protecting children from abuse.
Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/
