The Obama Love Rules

A bit of relationship advice from the former First Lady (with a little help from her friend Oprah)? Oh, go on then

What makes a strong marriage? If anyone knows, it’s Michelle Obama. Since 1989 (the year of their first date), she and Barack appear to have had an unshakeable bond. But like all good relationships, it’s taken work. Here, she tells Oprah Winfrey their story…

OPRAH WINFREY: You write [in your memoir], about meeting him, “I’d constructed my existence carefully, tucking and folding every loose and disorderly bit of it, as if building some tight and airless piece of origami… He was like a wind that threatened to unsettle everything.” At first you didn’t like being unsettled.

MICHELLE OBAMA: Oh God, no.

OW: This, I love – a moment that cracks me up: “I woke one night to find him staring at the ceiling, his profile lit by the glow of the streetlights outside. He looked vaguely troubled, as if he were pondering something deeply personal. Was it our relationship? The loss of his father? ‘Hey, what are you thinking about over there?’ I whispered. He turned to look over at me, his smile a little sheepish. ‘Oh,’ he said. ‘I was just thinking about income inequality.’”

MO: That’s my honey.