I’m going to miss Tim Russert.

NBC’s Washington Bureau Chief died unexpectedly yesterday from a heart attack. He was 58 years old.

I liked Tim’s political journalism a lot. I would watch bits and pieces of Meet the Press on Sunday mornings as I got ready for church. I would look forward to his appearances on The Today Show (which I watch in bits and pieces as I get ready for work), where he would give his insight and interpretation to the current political landscape.

And I so remember the year of the whiteboard–the 2000 presidential election where Tim went lo-tech with a dry erase board. It wasn’t fancy, but it was definitely one of the most clear explanations of electoral college math the country had ever heard. And we loved him for it.

Tim’s enthusiasm for politics even managed to get me, someone who is not a political junkie, interested in what was going on. I also loved his interview style–tough (sometimes to the point of being brutal) yet never mean-spirited. He also had this knack of asking questions I would have asked if I were seated across the table from a Clinton or a Bush or a Rice or a Gore. Tim had a great sense of what Joe Everyman wanted to know from national leaders, and I found that really refreshing in a political journalist.

I watched last night’s one-hour tribute to Tim on NBC and this morning’s special edition of The Today Show, which was also dedicated to Tim’s memory. I cried my way through both broadcasts. I feel like I’ve been to two beautiful and moving memorial services. And the look of shock, grief, and sadness etched on the faces of Tim’s friends and colleagues says it all–this man was beloved and will be sorely missed.

My favorite story out of what I’ve seen in the tributes was actually shared by Tim himself in a clip they showed. It appeared to be from an interview he did while doing media for his book Big Russ and Me. Tim took us back to 1962, when he was a boy. President Kennedy’s motorcade was going through his beloved hometown of Buffalo, New York. Tim’s father worked in sanitation in the city, and he knew Buffalo’s streets like few others, so he found the perfect spot for his family to see President Kennedy as his motorcade made its way through town.

As Kennedy’s convertible came down the street, Tim’s dad told Tim to go out to the convertible to greet the president. And lo and behold, as Tim approached the convertible and reached out his hand in greeting to Kennedy, President Kennedy reached out and shook young Tim’s hand.

Tim said his sisters were clapping on the sidewalk, his parents were hugging, and all of them were saying in unbridled excitement, "A Russert has met the President! A Russert has met the President!"

But that incredible story doesn’t stop there.

Tim fast-forwarded to November 1963, after the assassination of Kennedy. As editor of his school paper, Tim wrote a loving tribute to the fallen leader (he read a few sentences from it), which he sent to Robert Kennedy. Much to Tim’s surprise, Robert Kennedy wrote him a personal letter in response, thanking him for his kind words about his brother.

And that, said Tim, is when he realized that what he did could have an impact outside of his home there in Buffalo.

The young boy who shook hands with a President became the man who would interview Presidents.

As Tim said in the phrase he credits his father for, "What a country!"

I’m not sure how I’m going to get through this upcoming presidential election without Tim. But in his memory and as a thank-you for all his years of helping me understand politics, I’m going to try. Because to Tim, politics did matter–to the nation, to the world, and to the individual. I respect that.

And, Tim, thank you for helping me believe that.