Goodbye, Mr. President. You were a good guy.

If there is anything we can take away from the state funeral of President Ford, it is that he was a good guy. He was brave; he was kind; he was sincere, open, self-deprecating but confident. He was what most of us wish our children could grow up to be. He never wanted to be president. He wanted to serve his county. He seemed to have raised his kids the same way he conducted his short, unlikely presidency. He wanted to send children into the world who would leave it better off then it had been before. In unusual and very sincere bi-partisanship, since his death last week, those with whom he had served in Congress, lived in his neighborhood, attended his church, served in his cabinet or played golf agreed he had left the country better off than it had been when he assumed the highest office in the land.

This mid-westerner, who the first President Bush described as walking out of a Norman Rockwell painting, married a strong, independent divorcee, who he loved through thick and thin during their 58 year union. Whether speaking out on her breast cancer or her struggle with addiction to prescription pills, he did not try silence his Betty, but respected her candor. Together they raised four children, at least two of whom stood this weekend by the coffin of their father in the rotunda of the U.S. Capital Building to greet and thank the common citizens who had stood hours in line to pay their last respects to our 38th president.

He pardoned his predecessor, President Nixon, choosing national reconciliation over his own political future. How often do we see these sacrifices today? How often do we see reconciliation today in politics, at all?

As we gear up for our new Congressional term, as Nancy Pelosi and her Democrats take to the floor of the House, let us hope that her Democrats are our Democrats--our servants. Let them serve the whole country. Let them be open and honest. Let them reach out across the aisle and up Pennsylvania Avenue. Let them take some inspiration from this great Republican. Let us all.

Goodbye, Mr. President. You were a good guy. You are a good example. May your lessons be learned well and practiced often. May you look down on us always and be pleased.