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A buoyant exchange Thursday between Michelle Obama and the children of White House employees turned unexpectedly poignant when a young girl asked the first lady to help her dad.

While other children asked Obama about her favorite food or color, the young girl handed the first lady a piece of paper and said: “My dad’s been out of a job for three years and I wanted to give you his resume.”

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The first lady immediately gave the girl a long hug.

“Oh my goodness,” she told her during their embrace.



First Lady Michelle Obama hugs Charlotte Bell, 10, who gave the first lady her father's resume and said he had been out of work for three years. KEVIN LAMARQUE / Today

Obama then went back to her seat.

“Well, it’s a little private, but she’s doing something for her dad,” she told others in the room before looking at the girl again.

“Right? Got it!” she said, holding up the paper.

The White House declined to comment on the girl, but an AP photographer identified her as 10-year-old Charlotte Bell. The girl was among a group of children whose parents worked for the Obama administration and taking part of the White House's annual Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.

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