Maeve McDermott

USA TODAY

Barack and Michelle Obama are one step closer to becoming empty nesters.

Former President Obama described dropping off his oldest daughter Malia, 19, on Harvard University's campus last month for her freshman year at college, admitting he shed some tears in the process.

"For those of us who have daughters, it just happens fast," Obama said during a reception for the Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children Monday in Delaware.

"I dropped off Malia at college, and I was saying to Joe and Jill (Biden) that it was a little bit like open-heart surgery, and I was proud that I did not cry in front of her," he continued. "But on the way back, the Secret Service was off, looking straight ahead, pretending they weren't hearing me as I sniffled and blew my nose. It was rough."

"And it's a reminder that at the end of our lives, whatever else we've accomplished, the thing that we'll remember are the joys that our children, and hopefully way later, our grandchildren bring."

Malia was spotted on the Cambridge, Mass., campus in August moving in for her first year at the Ivy League school after spending a gap year traveling and interning at the Weinstein film company. Barack and Michelle, both Harvard Law graduates, were on-hand to help their oldest daughter with the move.

While Malia takes on Harvard, the Obama family continues to live in Washington, D.C. while their younger daughter, Sasha, 16, finishes high school.