Barack and Michelle Obama Share Rare New Family Photo for Daughter Sasha's 24th Birthday
Barack and Michelle Obama shared a rare new family photo on Tuesday, June 10, in celebration of daughter Sasha's 24th birthday.
The former first family is smiling and embracing one another in the picture, as the parents shared uplifting captions dedicated to their younger daughter.
Michelle recently opened up about their elder daughter Malia's attempt to "distinguish" herself by dropping her famous last name in her budding filmmaking career.
President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama shared a rare new family photo this week in celebration of their daughter Sasha's 24th birthday.
The picture features the full Obama family — Barack, Michelle, Sasha and Malia — with their arms around one another. The former president is dressed casually, in a white polo and gray slacks, while his wife and daughters are in sundresses.
"Happy birthday, Sasha! Watching you grow into the incredible woman you are has been a true gift. I'll always be proud of you and will always be here for you," Barack, 63, captioned the post.
Michelle, 61, shared the same photo on her page, with the caption, "Happy birthday to my sweet girl, Sasha! Can't believe how quickly time has flown. I'm so proud of the woman you've become. Love you always!"
Since leaving the White House, Malia and Sasha have lived more private lives than their parents. Though Malia, 26, entered the film and TV industry in recent years, which has required her to make occasional public appearances, Sasha has remained out of the spotlight and rarely appears at events or in photographs.
Michelle recently opened up about her daughters' attempts to "distinguish" themselves from their famous family now that they're adults.
During an appearance on Kate and Oliver Hudson's podcast, Sibling Revelry, the former first lady shared her feelings on Malia's decision to drop her last name and use her middle name, going by "Malia Ann" in her budding filmmaking career.
The former first daughter casually revealed the name change when she debuted The Heart, a short film that she wrote and directed, at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
"I mean, it is very important for my kids to feel like they've earned what they are getting in the world, and they don't want people to assume that they don't work hard, that they're just naturally, just handed things," Michelle said. "They're very sensitive to that — they want to be their own people."
"We were like, 'They're still going to know it's you, Malia,' " she added. "But we respected the fact that she's trying to make her way."
While she dropped her famous last name, "Ann" is still deeply significant in the Obama family, as it's the name of Barack's late mother, Ann Dunham, who died in 1995.
Michelle shared that Malia and Sasha have both sought independence from their family legacy since they were teens.
"They are young adult women, but they definitely went through a period in their teen years where it was the push away ... [where] you're trying to distinguish yourself," she told Kate and Oliver.
Now that Malia and Sasha are adults, and the family no longer faces the pressures of the White House, Michelle said her daughters have a better understanding of their parents and are "embracing our parenting principles."
"They have a clearer understanding of why we did a lot of what we did," she explained. "They understand us as full human beings now, in the same way that I think I discovered that about my parents when I went away to college."
Read the original article on People
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