Why Michelle Obama Was Surprised The First Time She Met Barack’s Grandparents

Former first lady Michelle Obama told Jimmy Kimmel her expectations of Hawaii were largely based on the 1972 episode of “The Brady Bunch,” and she was expecting a romantic trip with mai tais and beach sunsets. Instead, “We drive in from the airport on the highway, we go into the city, I don’t see the beach anywhere, I don’t see Greg Brady … I see nothing that I was expecting,” she recounted.

Michelle recalled pulling up to Barack’s grandparents’ apartment building and thinking how much it looked like her own grandparents’ home. She, Barack, Gramps (Stanley Dunham), and Toot (Madelyn Dunham) spent time together watching “60 Minutes,” doing jigsaw puzzles, and eating tuna and sweet pickle sandwiches in front of the television on TV dinner trays. “You do what you do when you visit grandparents,” she said. 

Although Michelle had originally expected romantic strolls on the sand, she later realized this quality time at Gramps and Toot’s place was Barack’s silent way of showing her his priorities. “Sometimes as people looking for partners, we’re looking for what we think are mai tais and sunsets. What we need is somebody who respects and loves their family and is gonna show up for them again and again,” Michelle told Oprah Winfrey on “Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast.”