It’s been said many, many times that Americans got love-drunk on the Obamas during their eight years in the White House. They were always such a beautiful, photogenic, cool, amazing first family. No matter what, I kept saying, we needed to enjoy them and embrace them even harder in their final months in the White House. Well, all of that has taken an especially bittersweet turn following the election of an orange predator. These are not simply the final months within which we’ll get to enjoy the Obamas. These are the final months within which we will have some positive sense of who we are as Americans. So that makes the December Vogue cover especially heartbreaking. Michelle Obama makes her final appearance as FLOTUS on the December Vogue, her third Vogue cover overall. You can read the cover story here. Some highlights:

The role of First Lady is what each woman wants it to be: “Everything we do is by choice. I could have spent eight years doing anything, and at some level, it would have been fine. I could have focused on flowers. I could have focused on décor. I could have focused on entertainment. Because any First Lady, rightfully, gets to define her role. There’s no legislative authority; you’re not elected. And that’s a wonderful gift of freedom.”

Pres. Obama on his wife: “Michelle never asked to be First Lady. Like a lot of political spouses, the role was thrust upon her. But I always knew she’d be incredible at it, and put her own unique stamp on the job. That’s because who you see is who she is— the brilliant, funny, generous woman who, for whatever reason, agreed to marry me. I think people gravitate to her because they see themselves in her— a dedicated mom, a good friend, and someone who’s not afraid to poke a little fun at herself from time to time.”

Her life post-White House: “I will take the same approach leaving as I did coming in. I won’t know until I’m there. I’ve never been the former First Lady of the United States before… But I will always be engaged in some way in public service and public life. The minute I left my corporate-law firm to work for the city, I never looked back. I’ve always felt very alive using my gifts and talents to help other people. I sleep better at night. I’m happier. So we’ll look back at the issues that I’ve been working on. The question is: How do I engage in those issues from a new platform? I can’t say right now, because we can’t spend that much time really doing the hard work of vetting offers or ideas or options because we’re still closing things out here.”

Whether she considers her fashion choices “brave”: “Yeah, no…I don’t think about it like that. It all boils down to comfort level: If I’m going to make you comfortable, than I have to be comfortable first. So my first reaction isn’t ‘Who made this?’ But ‘Let’s try it on. What does it look like? Oooh, that’s cute. Oh, wow. I never thought of wearing something like this. let’s put a belt on it. I feel gooood in this.’ There are definitely designers that I love, people I love to work with. And who they are as people matters. Are they good people? Do they treat their staff well? Do they treat my staff well? Are they young? Can I give them a boost? But! When all of that is equal…is it cute?!”

Why she likes to hug people: “I always touch people because I know that there’s a level of anxiety, people are teary or they’re nervous, and I just try to physically hold them and bring them down and say: ‘We’re here. I’m just Michelle.’ I want them to be able to walk away from that moment feeling like it meant something to them. And if they’re too nervous, if it feels too…formal, people can’t breathe. So that’s what I try to do with my interactions: a hug, a touch. It’s like music. It’s like friendship.”

[From Vogue]

This made me want to cry. Yes, because I’m going to miss Michelle so much, but also because… Melania Trump is our new first lady. How in the world did we get here? My mother – who proudly voted for Hillary Clinton, thank God – is absolutely appalled by the FLOTUS situation. I can’t even think that far, mostly because I think Donald Trump will usher in the apocalypse and who cares what Melania will do? In the grand scheme of things, Melania will probably be the least controversial and least damaging part of the Trump administration. She’s just going to shop and act as hostess and that’s it. No one even knows how Melania feels about Michelle’s White House garden.

Photos courtesy of Annie Leibovitz / Vogue.