Official portrait, wikipedia

I thought I would end my three days of quotes by skipping ahead two hundred years to the 21st century and our current First Lady.

As a reminder to those who may have joined today, I have been doing a three day quote challenge.   I want to thank Laura at  Laura Bruno Lilly: The Journey Continues for nominating me.

The rules of the challenge are:

1) Thank the person who nominated you.
2) Post a quote each day for three days.
3) Each day nominate three new bloggers to take part.

Like other First Ladies before her,  Michelle Obama has dedicated her time in the White House to issues close to her heart.   Ending childhood obesity became her signature cause.  She taught children how to grow and prepare healthy food, and encouraged a habit of exercise.   Working with Jill Biden, she worked to support service members, veterans and their families.  Most recently she has worked on higher eduction, and helped launch an initiative with President Obama to help girls go to and stay in school around the world.

Unlike the First Ladies before her, Michelle Obama left behind  a successful career to come to the White House.  But in common with those who served before her, she had walk the line between being a helpmate while not being perceived as having too much influence.   She also shared a strong desire to maintain a normal family life and raise her children away from the spotlight.

Here is the quote I chose:

We learned about dignity and decency – that how hard you work matters more than how much you make . . . that helping others means more than just getting ahead yourself.      —  Michelle Obama

My nominee for day three is:

Rachel at rachel mankowitz: the cricket pages

I’m only choosing one blogger today.  Writing quotes is not for everyone and I want the challenge to be fun.  I hope my readers have enjoyed this temporary diversion.  For me this has been a different kind of exploration in place — and in time, as I considered how different First Ladies defined themselves and their legacies.

First Lady Michelle Obama, from http://www.whitehouse.gov