--- title: Michelle Obama Reflects on How Her Marriage Has Changed description: The former First Lady chatted about finding new time to spend with Barack now that their term in office has ended. canonical: https://time.com/5454309/michelle-obama-marriage/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-14T16:08:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:56:01.221Z og:title: Michelle Obama Reflects on How Her Marriage Has Changed og:description: “We are finding each other again." og:url: https://time.com/5454309/michelle-obama-marriage/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdece8c27300b1a1b/69893f14656a3f6c40bd5f9d/michelle-barack-obama.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Barack And Michelle Obama Attend Portrait Unveiling At Nat'l Portrait Gallery og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Michelle Obama Reflects on How Her Marriage Has Changed twitter:description: “We are finding each other again." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdece8c27300b1a1b/69893f14656a3f6c40bd5f9d/michelle-barack-obama.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Michelle Obama on Her Relationship With Barack Now: 'It's Just Us and Our Dreams' > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Nov 14, 2018 4:08 PM UTC  Former U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama participate in the unveiling of their official portraits during a ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, on February 12, 2018 in Washington, DC. Former U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama participate in the unveiling of their official portraits during a ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, on February 12, 2018 in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Nov 14, 2018 4:08 PM UTC Michelle and Barack Obama are going through something that many couples do after raising kids: returning to their marriage as empty-nesters. (That is, nearly empty-nesters; their younger daughter, Sasha, is still 17, while [Malia](http://time.com/5410025/malia-obama-music-video/) is 20.) In an [interview with PEOPLE](https://people.com/politics/michelle-obama-barack-marriage-rediscovering-romance-after-white-house/), the former First Lady and new author of [memoir _Becoming_](http://time.com/5454046/michelle-obama-becoming-book-tour-oprah/) opened up about how her relationship with Barack has evolved, now that they’ve left the White House and have time to themselves. “We are finding each other again,” she said. “We have dinners alone and chunks of time where it’s just us — what we were when we started this thing: no kids, no publicity, no nothing. Just us and our dreams.” They’ve even taken the time to go on getaways as just the two of them, something that was rare indeed during Barack’s eight years in office. Recently, they headed out to California’s Palm Springs for some relaxation. “We swam, we sat, and he wrote because he’s still writing his book,” Michelle said of their vacation together. The Obamas have [shared a storied romance](http://time.com/barack-michelle-obama-love-story-photos/) and have become marriage touchstones for many. But Michelle has been sure to also discuss how they got through rough patches when needed with [couples counseling](http://time.com/5450376/michelle-obama-marriage-counseling/). “Because we’re role models, it’s important for us to be honest and say, if you’re in a marriage and there are times you want to leave, that’s normal — because I felt that way,” she said. 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