Former U.S. President Barack Obama showed his sentimental side this week by sharing the sweetest photo of the family in their pre-Presidential days. Sat out on their front stoop, little Sasha is perched on her dad’s knee, smiling down at Malia and mom Michelle. The interaction and love between all the members of the family shines out from the adorable snap. Although the photo is not dated, Sasha looks to be about six years old, meaning it was taken before Barack won his first term as President in November 2008. At seven, Sasha was the youngest ever child of a President to live at the White House.

Sasha and Malia Obama grew up with the lenses of the world’s cameras trained on them at every opportunity. In Michelle’s autobiography Becoming she relates how guilty she felt at not being able to let the two girls have a private, normal upbringing. However the Obama girls have grown into outstanding young ladies with Sasha, 18, recently enrolling at the University of Michigan. 21-year-old Malia is now at prestigious Harvard University – though due to the COVID-19 pandemic both her and sister Sasha are back home, studying online.

In a recent streamed call with friend Ellen DeGeneres, Michelle opened up about how the family is coping during the current lockdown. The inspirational mom-of-two said that she tries to keep a routine going and avoiding overloading on TV and the internet. “The positive side, for us, it has forced us to continue to sit down with each other and have real conversations,” she shared. “Really ask questions and figure out how to keep ourselves occupied without TV’s or computers. It’s a good exercise in reminding us that we just don’t need half of the stuff that we have, when times are tough, having each other having your health, we can do with a lot less.”