12 years without Robin Williams. There are celebrities you like. There are actors whose movies you love. And then there are a handful of people you never actually met who somehow feel like they were part of your life. Robin Williams was one of those people. Maybe it was because he could make absolutely anything funny. Maybe it was that unmistakable voice. Maybe it was the energy that made it feel like his brain was moving a thousand miles an hour and we were all just trying to keep up. Or maybe it was because underneath all of that, there was always so much heart. Even when he was playing the Genie, there was that goodbye. Even in Mrs. Doubtfire, there was a story about a father desperately trying to stay close to his children. Hook was about a man who had forgotten who he used to be. Jumanji was about someone who lost decades of his life and came back to a world that had moved on without him. And then there were movies like Good Will Hunting, Dead Poets Society, Awakenings and What Dreams May Come that showed us an entirely different side of him. He could make you laugh until your stomach hurt and then completely destroy you with one quiet scene. I think that’s why his movies have stayed with us. Robin Williams understood something about being human. That life can be unbelievably funny and unbelievably painful. That growing up doesn’t mean you have to lose your imagination. That people need kindness. That people need connection. That sometimes the person making everyone else laugh can be carrying things you know nothing about. On August 11, 2014, the world lost Robin Williams. 12 years later, we’re still quoting him. Still watching his movies. Still introducing those movies to our kids. Still laughing. Still crying. Still missing someone most of us never even met. What a beautiful thing it is to leave that much joy behind. We miss you, Robin. ❤️ 1951–2014 #RobinWilliams #RobinWilliamsForever #90sKids #Nostalgia #RIPRobinWilliams