SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — The girlfriend of one of the 14 people killed in the Dec. 2 shooting in San Bernardino said President Barack Obama immediately asked her for a hug when he came to talk with her Friday night.

Obama and his wife, Michelle, met with members of each of the 14 families in the library of Indian Springs High School. A separate table was set up for each family, and the Obamas moved from one to the next, spending about 10 minutes with each victim’s relatives.

When Obama approached the table where Mandy Pifer was sitting, he said, “Words aren’t enough. How about a hug?”

Pifer’s boyfriend Shannon Johnson, 45, was killed in the attack.

“I’ve been watching you give hugs,” Pifer recalled telling him. “I need a hug.”

“It just felt like they were really present in their conversation with me,” she said. “They are sick and tired of doing these things, meeting our families.”

Pifer told them about Johnson, how he loved life, his virtues and their future plans.