Thank you so much, Elaine... we are so grateful for your family's service and sacrifice...and we will always have your back.

Over the past few years as First Lady, I have had the extraordinary privilege of traveling all across this country.

And everywhere I've gone, in the people I've met, and the stories I've heard, I have seen the very best of the American spirit.

I have seen it in the incredible kindness and warmth that people have shown me and my family, especially our girls.

I've seen it in teachers in a near-bankrupt school district who vowed to keep teaching without pay.

I've seen it in people who become heroes at a moment's notice, diving into harm's way to save others... flying across the country to put out a fire... driving for hours to bail out a flooded town.

And I've seen it in our men and women in uniform and our proud military families... in wounded warriors who tell me they're not just going to walk again, they're going to run, and they're going to run marathons... in the young man blinded by a bomb in Afghanistan who said, simply, "... I'd give my eyes 100 times again to have the chance to do what I have done and what I can still do."

Every day, the people I meet inspire me... every day, they make me proud... every day they remind me how blessed we are to live in the greatest nation on earth.

Serving as your First Lady is an honor and a privilege... but back when we first came together four years ago, I still had some concerns about this journey we'd begun.

While I believed deeply in my husband's vision for this country... and I was certain he would make an extraordinary President... like any mother, I was worried about what it would mean for our girls if he got that chance.

How would we keep them grounded under the glare of the national spotlight?

How would they feel being uprooted from their school, their friends, and the only home they'd ever known?

Our life before moving to Washington was filled with simple joys... Saturdays at soccer games, Sundays at grandma's house... and a date night for Barack and me was either dinner or a movie, because as an exhausted mom, I couldn't stay awake for both.

And the truth is, I loved the life we had built for our girls... I deeply loved the man I had built that life with... and I didn't want that to change if he became President.

I loved Barack just the way he was.

非常感谢，伊莲……我们非常感谢来自你家庭的服务和牺牲，我们永远支持你。

过去的几年来，借由作为第一夫人的非凡殊荣，我几乎游遍了整个美国。

而无论我去到哪里，从我所见到的人们，所听到的故事中，我都看到了最真切的美国精神。

在人们对我和我的家庭，特别是我的女儿们那难以置信的友善和热情中，我看到了它。

在一个濒临破产的学区的教师们不收分文、坚持执教的誓言中，我看到了它。

在人们在突如其来的紧急召唤下化身英雄，纵身扑向灾害去拯救他人……飞过整个国家去扑灭大火……驱车数小时去援助被淹没的城镇时，我看到了它。

在我们身着军装的男女军人和自豪的军属身上……在受伤的战士们告诉我他们不仅会再次站立行走，而是会奔跑，甚至参加马拉松时……在一位于阿富汗因炸弹而失明的年轻人“……为了我所做的和我还将要做的，我宁愿失去我的眼睛一百次。”这样轻描淡写的话语中，我看到了它。

每一天，我所见到的人们都鼓舞着我……每一天，他们都令我骄傲……每一天，他们都在提醒我，能够生活在这地球上最伟大的国度中是多么的幸福。

成为诸位的第一夫人，是我的荣耀和幸运……但当我们四年前首次聚在一起的时候，我仍对我们即将展开的旅程心怀疑虑。

对我丈夫心中的祖国愿景，我满怀信心……对他将成为一位出色的总统，我也深信不疑……但是就像所有的母亲一样，我也曾担心如果他当选，这对我们的女儿们意味着什么。

身处万众瞩目的聚光灯下，我们要如何让他们保持脚踏实地？

当他们被迫离开从小熟悉的家、学校、和朋友时，会有什么感受？

在搬到华盛顿之前，我们的生活充满简单的快乐……周六参加足球赛，周日则在祖母家……还有巴拉克和我的约会之夜，我们要么出去晚餐，要么去看场电影，因为作为一个筋疲力尽的老妈，我实在没法同时去晚餐和电影还不打瞌睡。

说真话，我爱我们为女儿们所创造的生活……我深爱和我一起创造这生活的男人……而且我不愿意让这一切因为他当了总统而发生变化。

我爱的就是巴拉克原来的样子。