Chicago Tribune

Balancing Act: We flocked to the United Center, hungry for direction and joy. Michelle Obama fed us

CHICAGO - Like a weary, battered flock, we sought refuge in the United Center, hungry for stories of success, joy, inclusion, triumph over long odds, the higher road. American stories.

And Michelle Obama fed us.

She fed us with her humor and her honesty and her grace.

She fed us with stories about growing up on South Euclid Avenue in Chicago, living in the upstairs of a tiny house with her mom, dad and brother, Craig, one floor above her Aunt Robbie, who taught her to play the piano.

She fed us with her slogans, one of which, she said, is, "It's harder to hate up close."

"If I was

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