Former First Lady Michelle Obama was forced to confront her mortality when hubby Barack told her she was “up next” after her mom’s death. Obama, who started the IMO Podcast with her brother, Craig Robinson, was discussing the death of her 86-year-old mother, Marian, last May. “I guess, if anything, with mom’s loss, I think that—thank God you’re my big brother and I have a husband who’s older,“ Obama, 61, said. “Barack was saying, you know, ‘Well, you’re next up.’ And I was like, ‘I’m not really ready to be next up.’” She added, “I told him, You’re next up, and Craig is next up. I delegate that power to you.” Obama and her brother also lost their dad, who passed away in 1991 at age 55. The Becoming author, whose daughters are 26 and 23, said that, after your parents die, you assume an adult role and become the “glue” holding the family together. Obama, who said that she’s in a transitional period, has returned to therapy now that she’s an “empty nester.”
