Former President Barack Obama released his new memoir, titled Promised Land, earlier this fall, and he’s been doing the interview rounds talking about both the book and his life post-presidency.
One of the things he’s discussed is how the Obama family does quarantine, and he revealed that at the beginning of the pandemic, his elder daughter Malia’s boyfriend Rory Farquharson actually stayed with the family for a few weeks.
Warning: The following story has big dad energy!
Obama shared the tale of quarantining with his daughter’s main squeeze when he appeared on the Bill Simmons Podcast, saying that the initial weeks of staying home presented lots of opportunities for bonding time.
“I think, [like] a lot of families, we went through that first month where we were playing games every night and doing little arts and crafts projects and then slowly ... they started to get a little bored with us,” the former President said.
He also shared that his favorite activity in those early weeks was teaching his daughters card games. “Maybe teaching Malia and Sasha, and Malia’s boyfriend who was with us for a little while, spades ... and teaching them how to properly trash talk and slam the cards down.” (Both Malia and Sasha are in college; Malia attends Harvard, and Sasha attends the University of Michigan.)
According to President Obama, Rory had to stay with them due to obstacles with his visa.
“He’s British ... wonderful young man, and he was sort of stuck because there was a whole visa thing and he had a job set up,” he shared. “So we took him in and I didn’t want to like him, but he’s a good kid.” (Have you ever read anything more “dad” in your life?) “The only thing you discover ... young men eat. It’s weird to watch them consume food. My grocery bill went up about 30 percent.”
It seems as though the cohabitation with Malia and her folks went well, though, and the family had fun spending time together.
“It’s a blessing because all the teenage stuff is kind of gone now.
“They’re just back and they love you again and they wanna spend time with you again,” Obama said in the interview. Aww! Doesn’t that just warm your heart?