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the butlers cared about politics, if they had private allegiances to one party or
another, they kept it to themselves. They were careful to respect our privacy, but
also were always open and welcoming, and gradually we became close. They
instinctively sensed when to give me some space or when I could stand some
gentle ribbing. Often they were talking trash about their favorite sports teams in
the kitchen, where they liked to fill me in on the latest staff gossip or the exploits
of their grandchildren as I looked over the morning headlines. If there was a
college basketball game playing on the TV in the evening, Barack came in
sometimes to join them for a little while to watch. Sasha and Malia came to love
the convivial spirit of the kitchen, slipping in to make smoothies or pop popcorn
after school. Many of the staff took a special shine to my mother, stopping in to
catch up with her upstairs in the solarium.

It took some time for me to be able to recognize the voices of the different
White House phone operators who gave me wake-up calls in the morning or
connected me with the East Wing offices downstairs, but soon they, too, became
familiar and friendly. We’d chat about the weather, or I’d joke about how I often
had to be roused hours earlier than Barack to have my hair done ahead of official
events. These interactions were quick, but in some small way they made life feel a
little more normal.

One of the more experienced butlers, a white-haired African American man
named James Ramsey, had served since the Carter administration. Every so often,
he’d hand me the latest copy of Jet magazine, smiling proudly and saying, “I got
you covered, Mrs. Obama.”

Life    was better, always, when    we  could   measure the warmth.

d been walking around thinking that our new house was big and grand to
the point of being over the top, but then in April I went to England and met Her
Majesty the Queen.

This was the first international trip Barack and I made together since the
election, flying to London on Air Force One so that he could attend a meeting of
the Group of 20, or G20, made up of leaders representing the world’s largest
economies. It was a critical moment for such a gathering. The economic crisis in
the United States had created devastating ripples across the globe, sending world
financial markets into a tailspin. The G20 summit also marked Barack’s debut as