worked at the water filtration plant, blue color worker in chicago. and mom stayed at home looking after the kids and then when the kids got older she went to work as a secretary as a bank and she worked there most of her life and, when i think about both michelle s family and my family, when i am reminded of is what made america great was this basic idea, this basic bar gain that all of you experienced in your own families, your parents, grandparents, grandparents, maybe some of them emigrated here from somewhere else but the idea was here in america you could make it if you try. you know, that, it doesn t matter [applause] doesn t matter what you look like, where you come from, what church you worship in, the idea is that if you were willing to put in the work and take responsibility for your family, just like dan was talking about, if you were willing to stick with it and tough it out when times got tough sometimes, that ultimately hard work was rewarded and responsibili