"Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth." - William Faulkner

December is a month of celebration and mourning: a birth sacred to millions; the horrors of Pearl Harbor; the Festival of Lights; the slaughter of Battle of the Bulge; the birth of Beethoven; the death of Mozart.

This December we mourned the life and service of George H. W. Bush, 41st President of these United States.

He was the last of our Presidents belonging to what Tom Brokaw termed "The Greatest Generation," a cohort of men and women who not only survived a global war, plague, and depression but, in Faulkner's words, prevailed.

Those who joined together to honor him and millions did, did so in a spirit that most, if not all, his compatriots would have surely understood: "The faults of our brothers we write upon the sands; their virtues upon the tablets of love and memory."

What virtues? Those so eloquently expressed in eulogies by men who knew all too well his sometimes grievous faults, and loved him, including his son.

This is what George W said of his father. This is what he said:

As he aged, he taught us how to grow old with dignity, humor, and kindness – and, when the Good Lord finally called, how to meet Him with courage and with joy in the promise of what lies ahead.

He was a patriot. After high school, he put college on hold and became a Navy fighter pilot as World War II broke out. Like many of his generation, he never talked about his service until his time as a public figure forced his hand.

He was a tolerant man . . . Dad could relate to people from all walks of life. He was an empathetic man. He valued character over pedigree. And he was no cynic. He looked for the good in each person – and usually found it.

Dad taught us that public service is noble and necessary; that one can serve with integrity and hold true to the important values, like faith and family. He strongly believed that it was important to give back to the community and country in which one lived. He recognized that serving others enriched the giver's soul.

In victory, he shared credit. When he lost, he shouldered the blame. He accepted that failure is part of living a full life, but taught us never to be defined by failure. He showed us how setbacks can strengthen.

He loved to laugh, especially at himself. He could tease and needle, but never out of malice.

Finally, every day of his 73 years of marriage, Dad taught us all that it means to be a great husband. He married his sweetheart. He adored her. He laughed and cried with her. He was dedicated to her totally.

He showed me what it means to be a President who serves with integrity, leads with courage, and acts with love in his heart for the citizens of our country. When the history books are written, they will say that George H.W. Bush was a great President of the United States – a diplomat of unmatched skill, a Commander in Chief of formidable accomplishment, and a gentleman who executed the duties of his office with dignity and honor.

In his Inaugural Address, the 41st President of the United States said this: "We cannot hope only to leave our children a bigger car, a bigger bank account. We must hope to give them a sense of what it means to be a loyal friend, a loving parent, a citizen who leaves his home, his neighborhood, and town better than he found it. What do we want the men and women who work with us to say when we are no longer there? That we were more driven to succeed than anyone around us? Or that we stopped to ask if a sick child had gotten better, and stayed a moment there to trade a word of friendship?"

George W. Bush's last words to his father were, "I love you." His father's last words, in return, "I love you too."