This past weekend, my husband and daughter and I enjoyed an absolutely wonderful family vacation to Sesame Place, the Sesame Street themed amusement park in Pennsylvania. It was unequivocally amazing, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has a child (or an inner child!) that loves Sesame Street. My kid is enamored with all the characters but particularly loves Elmo; meanwhile, she knows that my favorite has always been Super Grover. She was so excited to point out to me anytime she saw Super Grover, whether it was the costumed actor portraying him in the parade or any souvenir item that had him on it. Indeed, I bought a Super Grover doll this weekend that has filled my heart with joy. I had always wanted one as a kid.

At some point, my daughter asked a very reasonable question. “Mama, why do you love Super Grover?” While she probably would have accepted any answer, I really gave it some thought, because compared to most mainstream characters, he is a little more obscure, at least nowadays. In any case, this is an expanded version of what I finally told her.

I love Super Grover not because he’s a superhero, but because he is actually a terrible — terrible — superhero. He swoops in wearing his pink cape and medieval knight helmet with the visor that frequently clangs down, and he crash lands every time, so eager to help with whatever problem may be at hand that he doesn’t always stop for all the details before he dives in to try to save the day. It takes him a lot of time and effort to figure out what exactly the solution should be, and generally he’s more of a hindrance than a help in getting there.

But he tries. Oh, bless his blue furry heart, does he try. He may not be any good at superhero work, but he never gives up. He never stops trying. He cares so much; his heart is always in the right place. And in the end, everything does work out, even if it takes a while.

Super Grover gives me hope. Even as a child, he gave me hope, though I wasn’t equipped to articulate why at the time. He taught me to keep trying, and to keep caring, because it was all going to be okay. With everything I’ve been through, that inspiration has often been pretty invaluable, even at times when it was more subconscious. Any spark of hope to the traumatized mind can be a crucial guiding light through the darkness, even something as seemingly arcane as a minor character from a preschool television show.

Growing up, my brother’s favorite superhero was Batman; other people love Superman or Iron Man or Black Panther. I myself am a Captain America fan as well.

But, my favorite superhero is Super Grover. He taught me that you don’t need to be amazingly perfect. You just need to be yourself, and to persevere.

That’s pretty super.