I remember my father's two-year transition into the world of respectability. He was promoted from beat-cop to detective. He quit smoking and drinking and bought some new suits. He did it for the family. We needed the money and he wanted to be at home when my brother and I were awake instead of out protecting the midnight streets while we slept. And, he did it to give my brother and I options. Options I never would have appreciated had not both Hunter S. Thompson and Peter Jennings died the same year I graduated college.

The two were as different as my degrees in journalism and creative writing, yet alike in their passion: the craft. Neither had formal journalism training, both blindly followed purpose. Both spoke well for their cultures and their voices should immortalize them.

As a kid, I never saw ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings. Instead, my parents would turn the channel to Wheel of Fortune and then disappear into the kitchen to prepare dinner after the 6 o'clock local news. And, I wouldn't have it any other way now because my dad was there to cook dinner. But before the days of cable reminders and Tivo you flipped from channel to channel only when you knew one show was over - for us, that flip came only after we'd heard the announcer say "with Peter Jennings." And the switch from inactive reality into the game-show fantasy was just that easy. After my parents had come home from work and changed out of their business attire, Peter Jennings was still wearing his suit and just getting clocked-in.

And then, years later, there was Hunter Thompson, as protrayed by Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, in khaki shorts, Hawaiian shorts and a tape-recorder duct-taped to his chest. That was the first year I took journalism seriously. After years of seeing news reporters in their ties and sports coat, here was this guy wearing shorts and driving a red convertible sports car across the country in pursuit of the story and the Great American Dream. Another option.

And I think about the options we are all left with. We live in a country where the rich go to college, the middle class go into student loan debt, and the unfortunate join the military. Exemptions do apply, but the deciding factor is opportunity. Those that have it, take advantage of it. Those that don't, make it happen for themselves. And most do it for the same reasons my dad traded his police uniform for a suit and tie: family. Others like Hunter Thompson and Peter Jennings - a suspect subculture - take advantage of opportunities because destiny give them no other paths.