Reflecting on the passing of Cousin Jan Curran-

Cousin Janice came by her career as a reporter naturally. As a child she appointed herself spokesman for her more laid back brother, Stan. If someone would ask Stan how old are you little boy?, Jan would furnish his age before he could speak.

Every family has their inside laugh lines.

As my younger brother was three or four years old and going through the "no" stage, he refused to take a bath. My mother gave up and turned the job of disciplining over to my father.
My father appealing to Arnie's competitive spirit intoned, "Your Cousin Janice takes a shower EVERY day!"

Arnie jumped into the tub.

Each time Jan saw me she would report, "Tell Uncle Israel I had my shower today."

A few years ago in Rancho Mirage the columnist Helen Thomas was a featured speaker in a local series. The tickets were sold out immediately. The day of the talk I received a call from Jan asking me if my wife, Jean, would like attend with her.

I asked how she was able to get tickets at that late date. Her reply was, "I called Helen Thomas and told her that if she was speaking in the valley I wanted a ticket and I better have one for Todd as well. Ms. Thomas said that they would be at Will Call. Todd had a conflicting meeting so Jean and Jan were at the lecture and met with the scourge of presidents after to hear the latest dirt from the Beltway that couldn't be included in the presentation.

What an outstanding lady!