The Christmas lights outside continue to blink, and the tree seems relieved to have safely delivered all the gifts it had guarded. I brace myself for the time when my children will go back to their busy lives. Soon it will be the New Year, a time to reflect on what is behind us, and what we can do to improve life.

Last night, after nearly two months of having abandoned CNN, we watched Fareed Zakaria’s special, “The Obama Legacy.” Great program. Wrong one for a holiday! Halfway through, I felt as sick as I had felt on November 8 and decided to leave the TV room before I would explode. I later heard that the rest of my family couldn’t watch it to the end either. No worries. It is recorded and we may someday see it to the end. Watching what the opposition has done to a good man, reminded me of all the artwork that wars have destroyed. Maybe I am wrong about the timing. Maybe Christmas was the perfect time to show what can happen to a man who dares to hope for the restoration of our faith in humanity.

I finally read myself to sleep and am up again at dawn to write. Many may believe that Obama failed to do what they had expected of him. But nothing anyone does, or say, can change the facts about the character of this great man. I sometimes wonder how strong one must be to go through eight years of attacks and insults without once being rude or profane. How determined he must be to keep going while they throw rocks at him. How kind one must be to hurt deeply, yet maintain the smile that can light up the world. It takes a unique strength to remain unbroken despite a conspiratorial defeat! What kind of a president he was, only history can tell. As for those of us who were lucky enough to witness it, let us learn from him.

I begin to pack away the holiday items while trying to remind myself of what I could hope for in the year to come. I hope that my children will face the year with the kind of poise that President Obama showed throughout his two terms. I hope they realize that a diamond is a diamond, no matter how they try to cover it in mud, that regardless of the outcome, character is what matters.

I want to enter the New Year with hope for humanity. Four decades of citizenship in this country has assured me that, in the end, goodness always prevails. The Obama legacy will continue to enrich humanity, and I can only hope to leave my children with the same message of dignity that he has left me with.