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Little girl who was mesmerized by Michelle Obama's portrait meets her idol in real life

VIDEO:  Michelle Obama meets young girl who went viral in photo looking at her portrait
0:31
Michelle Obama meets young girl who went viral in photo looking at her portrait
ABCNews.com
PHOTO: Catherine Thorbecke
ByCatherine Thorbecke
March 06, 2018, 6:37 pm
•3 min read

The little girl who was mesmerized by the portrait of Michelle Obama met her idol today, after a photo of the child staring up at the former first lady's image in the National Portrait Gallery went viral.

Michelle Obama tweeted a video of herself dancing with the girl, writing, "Parker, I'm so glad I had the chance to meet you today (and for the dance party)!"

"Keep on dreaming big for yourself," the former first lady added, "and maybe one day I'll proudly look up at a portrait of you!"

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A photo of Parker looking up, spellbound, at the former first lady's portrait hanging in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery was snapped by a fellow museumgoer, Ben Hines, and posted on Facebook late last week.

It has since been shared over 35,000 times on Facebook and garnered more than 25,000 reactions.

PHOTO: Parker Curry's awestruck reaction to Michelle Obama's official portrait in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, was captured by a fellow museum visitor on March 1, 2018.
Parker Curry's awestruck reaction to Michelle Obama's official portrait in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, on March 1, 2018, was captured by a fellow museum visitor who captioned the photo "made a pilgrimage today and we were delighted to wait in line behind this fellow art lover & hopeful patriot."
Ben Hines/Facebook

The official portraits of former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama were unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery last month. The artists behind both portraits are the first African-Americans to paint official portraits for the museum.

PHOTO: Michelle Obama met with Parker Curry, the little girl whose reaction to Obama’s official portrait has gone viral. On Instagram Obama wrote, "Keep on dreaming big for yourself...and maybe one day I'll proudly look up at a portrait of you!"
Michelle Obama posted a photo of her meeting Parker Curry, the little girl whose reaction to Obama’s official portrait in the National Portrait Gallery has gone viral. Obama wrote, "Parker, I'm so glad I had the chance to meet you today (and for the dance party)! Keep on dreaming big for yourself...and maybe one day I'll proudly look up at a portrait of you!"
michelleobama/Instagram

At an event unveiling the portraits, before the photo of the little girl went viral, Michelle Obama spoke of the impression these historic portraits might make on children — especially young girls who will walk the museum, and look for someone who looks like them.

“I know the kind of impact that will have on their lives because I was one of those girls," she said. "And when I think about those future generations and generations past, I think ‘Wow, what an incredible journey we are on together in this country.'"

PHOTO: Michelle Obama met with Parker Curry, the little girl whose reaction to Obama’s official portrait has gone viral. On Instagram Obama wrote, "Keep on dreaming big for yourself...and maybe one day I'll proudly look up at a portrait of you!"
Michelle Obama posted a photo of her meeting Parker Curry, the little girl whose reaction to Obama’s official portrait in the National Portrait Gallery has gone viral. Obama wrote, "Parker, I'm so glad I had the chance to meet you today (and for the dance party)! Keep on dreaming big for yourself...and maybe one day I'll proudly look up at a portrait of you!"
michelleobama/Instagram

ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report

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