Jon Hamm opened up about the tragedy in his past, and we really feel for him

We love Jon Hamm. We loved him as Don Draper in Mad Men, and we loved when he showed up and brought the funny in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. When he announced his separation, we really felt for him — and when he revealed his struggles with alcohol, we admired him for bringing such serious issues to light. Really, Jon Hamm is just a regular person with a ton of talent, and an incredible sense of humor. So when he talked about how growing up without a mother has affected him, we appreciated his wisdom on the matter.

Since not everyone can have the white picket fence and perfectly clean household growing up with two loving and present parents, we admire Jon Hamm for representing a lot of us out there who have grown up under similar circumstances.

"[My dad] was twice widowed," Hamm admitted in the November 2016 issue of Elle. “He was divorced from my mom when she died, but even so, there’s a deep sense of tragedy in that. I never had the opportunity to, as an adult, sit down and talk to him about that. It’s a real loss."

That said, his sense of family was a bit different.

"I was quasi-adopted by my friends’ families," he said. "And even today I get e-mails or cards from these women who, for lack of a better word, were my mom. We talk about what it means to be a family."

Very, very sweet. I think many of us are lucky to have motherly figures in women who aren’t necessarily our moms.

"Struggle is part of the journey," Hamm said. "That’s what I’ve learned in my forties: This too shall pass." Even though he's had quite the year, he's still pretty optimistic about it. "The great thing about getting older is living life," he added.

We’re loving Jon Hamm’s fresh perspective, and we’re so glad he opened up! No matter what, there’s a lot of love in his life — and that’s what’s most important.