This article originally appeared on People.
Barack Obama is grateful Michelle Obama is still his first lady — even without the White House.
The former president gave his wife a shoutout on Sunday as he accepted the 2017 Profile in Courage award in Boston, joking that he wasn’t sure at first whether she’d stay with him “once her official duties were over.”
“I also want to thank Michelle Obama for after the presidency sticking with me because I think she felt an obligation to the country to stay on,” he told the crowd at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. “But once her official duties were over, it wasn’t clear.”
“I love my wife. And I’m grateful for her,” he added. “And I do believe that it was America’s great good fortune to have her as first lady.”
Obama’s love — and admiration — for his wife was especially apparent in a photo captured by Boston Globe photographer Keith Bedford during Sunday’s ceremony.
In the snapshot, the former president appears to be giving his wife an approving once-over on stage after accepting the Profile in Courage award from former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy.
The moment gave fans on social media “#couplegoals” all over again.
