Peter Jennings

I'm not much of a news watcher, but I've gotten used to it since Rob watches ABC World News every night.

I became accustomed to seeing Peter Jennings every night for half an hour and always thought he was such a class act. I watched him for hours on end during the 9/11 horrors, watched him looking lumpy-eyed and unshaven as he went for hours on the air giving us the news. I appreciated his professionalism and the peek at his human frailty.

I got used to him, but didn't realize it. Didn't realize it until he wasn't there.

Last night I was watching a segment about him on ABC and found it amazing that there could be people who watched him for 22 years every night -- people like my dad who are real news hounds and never miss their nightly fix. How strange must that be when it's possible to have spent more time with Peter Jennings than your brothers and sisters or, say, your best friends from college. (Ahem.)