Making it in the MilLife

On Wednesday, Monique and I had the honor of attending the Joining Forces One Year Anniversary Celebration Event at the White House. First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden welcomed military, government and community leaders, and service members and their families to mark the day.

After seeing this picture from the event, people have been asking, “What were you and the First Lady talking about?”

I was pleasantly surprised, and genuinely excited, to see Dr. Biden and the First Lady working the “rope line” after the Joining Forces Celebration ended.

As the First Lady made her way down the line she was very focused, and genuinely interested in what people had to say to her, frequently stopping to take pictures and offer big hugs. She paid particular attention to the military children that were present.

After a long wait, Mrs. Obama and I were face to face. (Well, not quite, she just a ‘bit’ taller than me.) I quickly introduced myself as a proud military spouse of 24 years and fellow Chicagoan. I shared that MOAA was working on the Military Spouse Licensure Issue on the state level. She acknowledged what an important issue this was for military spouses and their families and the need for action. It was reassuring to hear first hand how much both Dr. Biden and the First Lady knew about the military spouse licensure issue.

Then a change of topic.

So what elicited the big smile at the end?

Recently, on a national talk show, the First Lady shared her shopping experience at the local Target. It sounded like a lot of fun. So, I made a friendly offer to accompany her on her next outing to Target. The First Lady told me to meet her in the condiment aisle!

Want to hear more of the details of the event? Check out our weekly legislative update.

Special thanks to Stephanie Himel-Nelson  from Blue Star Families for sharing the photos. 

In January, one of our very own member spouses and member of MOAA’s Miramar Chapter,  was invited to watch live, the State of the Union address!

According to this article: “Howard was selected because of her contribution to Joining Forces, an initiative aimed at helping veterans created by Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden.”