Obama recalled when daughter Sasha exhibited signs of potentially deadly meningitis when she was 4 months old . `` We did n't know what , but he -LSB- the doctor -RSB- told us she could have meningitis , so we were terrified . He said get to the emergency room right away , '' she said . `` Fortunately , things worked out . '' `` But it is that moment in our lives that flashes through my head every time we engage in this health insurance conversation . It 's that moment in my life , because I think about what on earth would we have done if we had not had insurance . '' Mrs. Obama not only faced the issue as a mother , but also as a daughter . `` My father has multiple sclerosis . He contracted it in his 20s . ... He was able to get up and go to work every day , even though it got harder for him as he got sicker and more debilitated . And I find myself thinking what would we had done as a family on the south side of Chicago if my father had n't
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- She stood by her husband throughout the contentious 2008 presidential campaign and during heated health care reform debates during his presidency . First lady Michelle Obama listens to remarks during a health care forum at the White House on Friday . Now , as the debate is reaching a fever pitch , first lady Michelle Obama is weighing in on the issue by focusing on how health care can affect families . `` What she 's doing is putting a personal and human face on the issue ... there 's nothing more crucial , '' said Washington Post columnist Sally Quinn . `` Everybody gets sick , and everybody has someone in the family that gets sick . '' `` I think if you can humanize it and personalize it , it suddenly brings it home to people -- especially those who are screaming and yelling about the government taking over , '' Quinn said . On Friday , the first lady , a former hospital administrator , spoke about the issue to a crowd at the White House , highlighting her own family 's experience with health care . In one touching moment ,