Joseph Sabino Mistick: The good and the bad from 2022 

“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves,” according to the late William E. Vaughan, author and longtime columnist for the Kansas City Star. It is never that simple.

There are always some bad things from the old year that we just can’t shake. And there are some good things from the old year that we want to hang onto — people and events that will make us all better in the new year.

When 10 South Korean tourists got stuck in a snowbank in Buffalo during what Gov. Kathy Hochul called “the blizzard of the century” over Christmas, two of them pounded on the front door of Alexander and Andrea Campagna, hoping to borrow shovels to free their van.

The Campagnas had a better idea. They found room in the inn, and they provided the stranded tourists with safe shelter in their own home. Together, on Christmas weekend, they watched a Buffalo Bills game and ate Korean food, giving each other the gift of kindness. Alexander told The New York Times, “We will never forget this.” Nor should we.

It was a different story for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who expelled about 130 migrants from his state and sent them to Washington, D.C. They arrived on an 18-degree day on Christmas Eve, thinly clothed and weary, victims of Abbott’s politics of sheer meanness.

But good people stepped up again. A Capitol Hill church provided room in the inn for all of them, including many children. Blankets were handed out, and a local restaurant quickly prepared fresh meals. We would be better off if we could leave Abbott and his anti-immigrant policies behind.

We could use more of Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2023 as a reminder of the value of freedom. The Ukrainian president arrived here in the days before Christmas to thank the American people for the military aid he needed to fight the Russian invaders and to lobby for more aid.

Zelenskyy, fresh from the war zone and dressed in military fatigues, presented a Ukrainian battlefield flag to a joint session of Congress. “This flag,” he said, “is a symbol of our victory in this war. We stand, we fight and we will win because we are united — Ukraine, America and the entire free world.” Ukrainians will be fine companions in the coming year.

It goes without saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is waging the criminal terror campaign against innocent Ukrainian citizens, is somebody we would be better off without.

In our own lives, we all have lost someone who we would give anything to have at our side as we cross the threshold into 2023. Our last tribute to them is to honor their memories by being a little bit better in the new year.

Community losses are the same, as we saw when Pittsburgh lost Franco Harris during Christmas week. Franco made his mark in Pittsburgh as a football player, but he left his mark on this city and region as one of our greatest community leaders.

Franco was everywhere here. He loved our city and spent his life helping others. He was a friend to all. He was kind. We should keep his memory with us in 2023.