\n\u201cI know that you\u2019ve both had a lot of fun these last two year on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn\u2019t have let you have. But I also know that it hasn\u2019t always been easy for you and mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn\u2019t make up for all the time we\u2019ve been apart,\u201d the incoming President wrote in the letter to be published in Parade on Sunday. \u201cI know how much I\u2019ve missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.\u201d
\nAs the President-Elect\u2019s letter continued on, he noted how having children changed him from a man after success, to a man motivated by wanting to make the world better for his girls.
\n\u201cI soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn\u2019t count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIn the end, girls, that\u2019s why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation.\u201d
\nObama wrote of wanting to be able to give better opportunities to children of all backgrounds, and he thanked the military for their hard work to protect the nation. He also referenced his late grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, whom he said helped him \u201cunderstand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better \u2014 and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us.\u201d
\nObama ended his letter by praising his children.
\n\u201cI am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House,\u201d he wrote, signing the letter, \u201cLove, Dad.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"