I am so happy for him that he is moving on to something else. I won't say this is the wrong choice for him or the show, because I don't think it is - (though I can't believe he's leaving before the next presidential election!). I think it is wonderful that he is going to help his wife run an animal preserve and I know it is her passion and it is wonderful that they can do this together, as a family, but I feel like there will be a hole missing in America, a social conscious that we all need. I was 20 years old when Jon started on The Daily Show. I had watched it during the Kilborn years, here and there, when I had cable and I liked Kilborn, but when Jon came along, it became something different, something eye-opening. From age 20 to 37, Jon Stewart has been in my life. He helped shape my generation. He helped shape me. There is a part of who I am, who I grew into, as an adult, an aware, active, conscious part of me that was shaped by Jon Stewart and he'll never know - or accept - what an impact he and the show had on me as a person.
Jon Stewart is going to live on a farm in New Jersey. And I know - unlike when someone says this about your missing pet - it doesn't mean he is dying. I know he will probably be around from time to time, in our eyeline. And I know the show will live on too. But for right now, I will lay here and be sad for awhile that my defining years are behind me - if not grateful that Jon was there to guide me through them.
