Esther

Early this morning, a beautiful soul went home to be with Jesus. Esther Earl, a sixteen-year-old from Boston who was fighting thyroid cancer, passed away, surrounded by her family. I never met her, and I first heard of her only a few months ago, but her strong spirit, love of life, and commitment to awesome touched me deeply.

Esther was a Nerdfighter and a Harry Potter fan of the highest caliber. She truly cared about people and she had a passion for decreasing worldsuck. Though I'm sure she was often frustrated and in pain, her tweets and her videos were always upbeat and never self-pitying. She faced her illness with strength and grace (Grace was her middle name), and she reached out to other people and vigorously supported great causes, such as the work of the Harry Potter Alliance. Her Make-A-Wish Foundation request was for a gathering of close friends and her favorite author, John Green. John told Esther that for her birthday, which was about three weeks ago today, he would ask Nerdfighteria to make videos about any subject of her choice, and her choice was love and family.

I've celebrated many fantastic events with the Nerdfighter and Harry Potter communities over the past year and a half, but this is the first time I have mourned with them. From the moment I woke up, my Twitter feed has been full of messages in her memory and prayers and wishes for her family and friends. Two beautiful songs have already been posted to YouTube about Esther, and I'm sure more will follow. People have been saying "R.I.A." for "Rest in awesome," and they've been reminding each other of Albus Dumbledore's wise words about life and death. We are all saddened to say goodbye to Esther, but we will continue to honor this brave girl who inspired so many people to make the world a better place.

Heaven holds just a little bit more awesome today than it did yesterday. Rest in peace, Esther.