PhotObama: Somber good-bye to Toot edition

By GottaLaff

Obama & Family Attend Memorial Service For Toot:

R.I.P. Toot.

Obama to attend memorial for "Toot"

By GottaLaff

Obama for America via AP

Our hearts are with President-elect Obama and his family:

President-elect Barack Obama and his family will pay tribute Tuesday to the woman he called his "rock," the maternal grandmother who provided stability in his young life and made his rise to the American presidency possible.

The Obamas will step away from their beach vacation here to attend a private memorial service for Madelyn Dunham, who lived in a modest Hawaii apartment and died of cancer at age 86 on the eve of the presidential election. [...]

Obama called his grandmother Toot -- short for "tutu," the Hawaiian word for grandparent -- and said in his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver that "she's the one who taught me about hard work."

"She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life," Obama said. "She poured everything she had into me." [...]

"Tutu taught us to be mindful and moderate, to be patient when calm was warranted and to act when action was necessary," the siblings wrote in a statement read at Dunham's November memorial. "She liked playing bridge, a good mystery novel, jigsaw puzzles and an annual cruise. She was fiercely loyal and protective of those whom she loved, and had little patience for foolishness."

R.I.P., Toot.