During the commercial breaks this morning, we were lamenting about some of the young stars in the news these days.  Young ladies like Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan and Paris Hilton seem to be on the fast track to a real tragedy with their self-destructive behavior.  Dan was saying how disappointing it is that so many young girls look up to Britney and Paris.  He went on to talk about the problems with the youth of today.  Later, Dan had to laugh at himself.  After all, he’s the ripe old age of 28.  At the same time, Dan is mature and intelligent.  You don’t have to be 30 (or older) to make wise decisions.  Tom is about the same age as Dan and I often forget how young he is, too.    He’s also intelligent and grounded and knows what’s really important in life.

The youngest on air person on Good Morning Indiana is Emily.  She’s all of 23.  She is truly blessed to be in this size market at such a tender age.  The news business is in her blood.  Her mom and dad have reporting experience.  As a matter of fact, her father is a former news director.  I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Gimmel and he’s a very nice man!!  If Emily plays her cards right, she’ll be at network well before she gets her first gray hair. 

Paul, Julie and I are the older brother and sisters of the group.  We’re always good for a “I remember when” story.  It’s a little strange to find yourself as one of the veterans of the group.  I was in my mid-20’s when I joined the RTV-6 staff. 

Tom made my year earlier this week when he said I looked like I was 19 during our race day coverage. (I had on a baseball cap and most of my makeup washed away with the rain.)  Ah, yes.  Tom may be young, but he certainly knows how to charm an old lady.  Now if I could squeeze out 19 more years in the news business, that would put a real wrinkle in local news.