Tonight at 11pm, the final episode of Jon Stewart’s 16 year run as the host of The Daily Show will air.

I remember when Jon took over as host of The Daily Show. Back then, during Craig Kilborn’s short run, it was more childish and immature and it appealed to high school me. I used to watch it every night while chatting on AOL Instant Messenger with my friends. Then Jon Stewart took over and while the silly jokes were still there, it was clear the brains behind the gags were not just going for the easy punchline. I suddenly found myself learning about the world, about politics, in a way I had never been engaged before.

I watched Daily Show all through college and for a good while after that. I attended the Rally for Sanity in Washington D.C., one of the craziest events I have ever been to. Jon and the crew were the voice of reason, or at least they admitted how ridiculous politics can be, and will always be. Instead of thinking “am I the only one who sees this?”, Stewart reassured me that, no, I was not crazy, the world was crazy.

Like Joss Whedon’s shows, Jon Stewart and The Daily Show made me feel less alone in this crazy world. They reminded me that other people, a LOT of other people, laugh at the same jokes as me and have the same serious concerns about our world. It was comforting.

I know when I watch that final episode I will cry. Not just because it is goodbye, but because I won’t know where to go to find that comfort anymore. Yes, there are little niches and nooks on the internet that probably provide similar satire, I can watch John Oliver’s segments on YouTube, but a mainstream, popular source of levity on a daily basis won’t be readily available to me.

And maybe I will be surprised again by Trevor Noah and the new team taking over.

But right now I am very scared, as I see the new presidential candidates lining up, as I see that FOX NEWS is still a thing, as I see ignorant comments online about all of the things happening in the world…and I realize that after tonight, Jon Stewart won’t be there to react to it, to tell me that my frustrations are well founded, that I am not the only one staring at the screen and wondering WTF is going on.