We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
Ann Dunham led an extraordinary life.
AsBarack Obama’s mom, she played a pivotal role in raising the future president.
“My mother was the biggest influence in my life,” Obama explained in a 2022Obama Foundationvideo.
Part of Dunham’s successes stemmed from her ability to deal with life’s difficulties.
Worried about her son, Dunham had the added tension of dealing with difficulties in access to medical care.
This wasn’t the only time that Dunham had to deal with upsetting circumstances.
She persevered in a multitude of situations, including unexpected parenthood, divorce, and illness.
Their romance began quickly, and Dunham got pregnant.
She and Obama Sr. married in February 1961, and Obama was born six months later.
“I never probed my mother about the details.
Did they decide to get married because she was already pregnant?
Or did he propose to her in the traditional, formal way?”
Over the years, Obama struggled with the lack of concrete details about his parents' wedding.
Sadly, Dunham and Obama Sr.’s marriage was short-lived.
Even before they divorced in 1964, they were living separately.
Dunham paused her education before Obama was born.
By 1962, Obama Sr. moved to Harvard for graduate studies.
The decision caused friction between the couple.
The couple had met at the University of Hawaii, where Soetoro was an international student.
Unfortunately, in 1965, the couple lived separately when political violence forced Soetoro to return to Indonesia.
Three years later, Dunham and Soetoro’s daughter Maya Soetoro-Ng, was born.
However, Obama was aware of problems between his mom and stepfather, such as their difficulty communicating.
Even so, Dunham’s romantic outlook remained sanguine.
Unfortunately, Dunham needed to stay in Indonesia.
A year earlier, Dunham had given birth toObama’s half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng.
Dunham pledged that she would do her utmost to keep their time apart under one year.
Obama’s mom followed through on her promise.
While she envisioned her two kids with her, Obama preferred to stay in Hawaii with his grandparents.
Looking back, Obama noted the personal impact of these separations.
Dunham was devastated, and a couple of years later, she was dealing with her own health concerns.
However, she was hesitant to seek medical expertise.
Sadly, Dunham’s symptoms became too significant to disregard.
Early medical tests didn’t reveal that she had cancer, and one physician mistook her symptoms for appendicitis.
By early 1995, however, she was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian and uterine cancer.
She received a hysterectomy and chemotherapy to treat the illness.
Sadly, Barack Obama wasn’t with his mom when she died in November 1995.
Obama was 34 at the time, and decades later, he spoke about his grief.
“She had a kind of longing for a closer relationship with him,” author Janny Scott informedNPR.
Fortunately, she did have health insurance.
However, to give herself financial peace of mind, Dunham was trying to access disability benefits.
However, it’s not known if her son ended up dealing directly with the insurer.
Even so, it made a lasting impression on Obama and he discussed his memories of the events publicly.
