As a child, I was sitting around the table with my mother and grandmother, listening to them laugh about my great aunt's latest lark. Apparently, an authority in Texas was claiming that the Jersey Devil actually belonged to Texas. Aunt Helen wrote a letter to the local paper, affirming New Jersey's and our family's claim to the beast, and offering on her upcoming trip to Texas to bring the devil back. That brought a reporter to her door, newspaper photos of a family gathering (if I'm not conflating two events), and the lifelong pique of inspiration in a little girl.

I am equally inspired by her wit, playfulness, feistiness, and kindness. She will be missed by her family and friends -- and never forgotten.