Thank you Obama!

Okay it's getting horribly real now and I don't like it. I don't like it one bit. How did this happen so fast? The Obama's are leaving the White House and I am just not ready to accept it.

Am I the only one who can't watch the farewell speech without wiping away tears?!

President Obama and First Lady Michelle have been a key part of my adult life and saying goodbye is totes emosh. I mean for me they went above and beyond turning the American Presidency into something I was interested in. That I cared about. They made politics real to me. They made me take notice and i'm not even American.

Love this!

Throughout the five and a half years that we have been writing this blog Obama has been President and involved in some major decisions that have had an impact on our lives. Search 'Obama' in the search bar and there are over 47 mentions of him in our posts (type Cameron or any other Prime Minister in and the results are less than 5).

When we were doing our 'What's Happening Hot Stuff' rounds ups we frequently reported on the up's and downs of USA politics and the impact decisions were having on us personally. Would Obama come out in support of gay marriage? Would gay marriage be allowed? Would our marriage be legal? Fast forward a couple of years and those questions seem like distant memories. Thankfully. And even though our marriage wasn't legal at the time (because some charmer called Butch Otter put up £1 million dollars to stop gay marriage in Idaho in the month we got married) so many people we know have been able to marry legally. Thanks Obama.

We also consoled ourselves with the letter he and Michelle very kindly wrote us a congratulations letter on the occasion.

And that wasn't the first time he wrote to us. The first letter is here.

Obama's support of gay marriage promoted us to write an entire What We Love Wednesday post dedicated to him. Do you remember his first statements on how he felt? Here's one:
According to ABC News, Mr Obama said: ”I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.”

Can you imagine a similar thing coming out of the mouth of the current President Elect?

Oh and the joy and relief when Obama got his 2nd term - do you remember that election? We stayed up to 4.30am and unlike like the recent election I stayed up from excitement instead of fear. Not only was Obama back where he belonged but the highest number of women were voted into senate, an openly gay senator was elected and pot was legalised in two states.

We aren't just fans of Barack Obama though, we have and continue to love Michelle. Her first feature on the blog was in our Powerful Women we admire post and then she got her own follow up 'What We Love Wednesday' post about how awesome she is. Since writing that post our respect for her has increased ten-fold (her last Democratic Convention Speech - amazing). In face we are pro her running for President in 4 years. Her articulate, poignant, meaningful speeches are inspirational. Not just in what is said but in delivery. Michelle has poise like no other and while Beyonce may be Queen-B i'd take Michelle Obama as President any day.

Here's a highlight reel that Sky released that made me smile:

What will we do without them?! I guess it was going to be a pretty tough act to follow whoever took over it's just made worse by the fact that the worst (2nd worst? Is Pence worse?!) person is now president. What a legacy though, in two terms, and against the odds, Obama:

He'll certainly take some beating as the best president we have in our lifetime. 

Deep sigh.....let the cheeto presidency begin.....sob.....weep.....sniffle.....wipe away tears.