Writer, Editor, Publisher, Comic master mind, and in my opinion, one of the most imaginative minds to ever exist, Stan Lee, has passed away at 95.

I'm grateful to have shared the same timeline and inhabited this small world in some of the same years as a man who's responsible for the utter happiness and success of so many.

Born and raised in New York City, Stan Lee started his decades-long career in the comic industry at the small comic division of an NYC magazine. By the 1960's, that small comics division would evolve into the Marvel Comics we all know and love.

From there, the only direction was up. As the co-creator of many of my childhood heroes, albeit fictional, he created a franchise that slowly but surely morphed into a family. A family of writers, innovators, actors, directors, and fans.

In addition to being a creator extraordinaire, Stan Lee was also an army veteran, a father, a husband, and a role model to so many, myself included.

The Marvel universe has been a huge part of my life, for most of my life. From reading old comics in my fourth-grade classroom during inside recess to being filled to the brim with excitement, nerves, and delight at the announcement of every new Marvel movie.

The Marvel universe, in its many forms, has been an escape for me in the darkest of times.

What Stan Lee, along with his co-creator Jack Kirby, achieved is no small feat.

With characters and storylines and deep passion for his fans, he managed to help cross-media types, age groups, and genres. The Marvel universe helped break stereotypes of every kind. Comics and superhero stories no longer belong to one group or community of people, and broken are the molds of strictly selfless and patriotic heroes.

At the core of every superhero story ever written is a message of hope and courage, a message Stan Lee helped craft and distribute to the hearts of every child and adult who invests a piece of themselves into the stories they read.

Stan Lee brought his characters to life, made us hate them, love them, and helped us realize that the distinction between good and evil isn't always cut and dry.

I have so much that I wish I'd have gotten the chance to thank him for. For brightening up my childhood (and adulthood), for giving me comfort in the form of characters whose lives and struggles I could relate to, and for giving my life a sense of adventure whenever I immerse myself in the world of superheroes, villains, and the constant battle of good and evil.

While the Marvel universe will continue to not only thrive but astonish, every new comic I hold in my hands and every dark movie theater I sit in as the Marvel montage plays will never be the same.

Now feelings of nostalgia and a tinge of sadness will accompany the nerves and excitement I feel upon watching the latest Marvel cinematic creation.

There will never be another Stan Lee, nor will there ever be a world like the one he helped create through his imagination and storytelling.

I'm am so grateful for the role he played, unknowingly, in shaping not only my adolescence, but the lens through which I see good and evil, light and dark, and hero and villain.

I'm grateful for the lessons I've learned through his stories, in all forms, and I'm grateful that because of the enormous community he brought together, I've made friends that I'll have for a lifetime.

Mostly, though, I'm thankful for the way his characters and stories showed that anyone can be a hero, in any capacity. That legacy will continue to live on, and will no doubt outlive me, and maybe even the Marvel universe itself.

His death is a great sadness, but the thought that he spent his entire life doing what he loves and creating things for other people to love is enough to put my mind at ease.

Rest in peace, Stan Lee. And thank you for making me feel like a superhero through this wonderful creative universe you helped imagine, even in the smallest of moments.