Goodnight, Peter...

Peter Jennings died last night. For most of our lives, he was the face of nightly news - one of those continuity factors in a world so rapidly changing. For 22 years, he was with us through bad times - 1st Gulf War, 9/11, Princess Diana's funeral, all those Florida hurricanes - and good times - Y2K celebration, fall of the Berlin Wall, end of the cold war. And during those years when we didn't watch the news, when the business of life took over, we knew that he would still be on at 6:30 p.m., every night.

Ours is the TV generation: we didn't grow up with the Internet, we didn't have cell phones while in grade school, we didn't have e-mails and IM and text messaging until a few years ago. If we wanted to get the news, we had the paper, the radio, and the TV. Right before supper but after homework, right before Jeopardy! but after local news - there was Peter Jennings - and life was so much simpler and more innocent. At least, that's what he'll always remind me of.

So... it's our turn to say thank you and goodnight.

Thank you Peter, and goodnight.