I’m not sure why Tim Russert’s death has affected me as much as it has. Perhaps it’s because Russert—who has written so eloquently about fatherhood—reminds me a bit of my own dad. Perhaps it’s because he was such a good man, such a decent man in the midst of a political system that is often anything but good and decent. Perhaps it’s because he came from humble roots; he personifies the American dream that I am so often cynical of. Perhaps it’s because I, like many, feel like I actually knew him. Having lived overseas for the past five years, I saw Tim Russert more often than I saw my own family and my stateside friends. If it was Sunday, even in Dubai, even if the show came on at dinner time, it was Meet The Press.

John McCain and Barak Obama both commented on the Today show that Tim Russert was fair and tough, and because of that, he had the respect of just about everyone. His many colleagues and friends have commented on his deep capacity for kindness and his eagerness to celebrate the accomplishments—professional and personal—of those people he held dear.

A top-notch professional and person: I admire that in a human. It’s what I strive for as a teacher: to be fair, regardless of the consequences, to be tough, and in so doing bring out the best in my students, to listen, and never to forget our shared humanity. I suppose in some ways, although our professions are different, he was a role model for me.

I like that he was unafraid to take on anyone; to him it didn’t matter who you were or who you knew. There was no special treatment; no one was immune from having to face his well researched questions or from having to “take a look up at the monitor.” No one was beyond accountability; no one was above owning up to the American people.

I like that he cared, and that he did something he was passionate about and believed was meaningful, and that in doing so, he made other people’s lives richer. His questions made politicians have to step up their game, made other news anchors have to work harder to keep up with him, and, as I just heard George Stephanopolis say, through Tim’s tenacious questions, “he made us all better citizens.”

I like that Tim Russert seemed to know exactly who he was. It seems an easy thing to forget in Washington or in life, and I just love it that he never did.

So as I reflect on the passing of this journalistic king, this American moral compass who challenged so many with such integrity, I am reminded that it’s possible to dream big and stay grounded, to succeed and stay sane, to live a life that is both ordinary and extraordinary.

He was a legend. And we’re lost this Sunday without him.