Michelle & Me

Parker Curry, a two-year-old visitor to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., became a viral sensation last week after a photo of her gazing adoringly at the official portrait of Michelle Obama by Baltimore artist Amy Sherald collectively won the hearts of the entire Internet.

The heartwarming moment from the tiny art connoisseur — which earned a co-sign from Sherald herself, who re-posted the image on her Instagram account — garnered such a response that it led to the little girl meeting her hero Michelle Obama in real life, a meet-up that led to an impromptu dance party and some encouraging words from the former first lady.

In a post on Instagram, Michelle Obama shared that she had met Parker and included a picture with the little girl and a video of the two of them dancing to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off.” The caption that Obama includes with the post encourages little Parker to follow her dreams.

“Parker, I’m so glad I had the chance to meet you today (and for the dance party)!,” Obama wrote. “Keep on dreaming big for yourself…and maybe one day I’ll proudly look up at a portrait of you!”

In an interview with CNN, Parker’s mother Jessica shared that Parker’s awe-struck moment in front of Obama’s portrait was extremely powerful because of why Parker loved the portrait so much.

“In further discussion with (Parker) yesterday and today, I realized that she believes Michelle Obama is a queen, and she wants to be a queen as well …,” Jessica Curry said. “As a female and as a girl of color, It’s really important that I show her people who look like her that are doing amazing things and are making history so that she knows she can do it.”

One can only wish! Parker is all of us.