This Star Won't Go Out

For several intensely exuberant, emotion-laden days and nights, seven of Esther’s tight-knit Catitude friends, along with our whole family, stayed at a Marriott hotel on Boston’s Tudor Wharf with views of the USS Constitution from the hotel patio. The first night at the hotel, the revelers enjoyed a catered dinner and general silliness with one another, a special visit from Esther’s medical social worker, Jenn, and an energetic visit from Prof. Dumbledore himself! (Who brought along Andrew Slack, the co-founder of the Harry Potter Alliance.) The highlight of the weekend for Esther was the planned visit the following day with her favorite YA author and friend, John Green. That morning, her dad met John Green in the lobby of the hotel to express his gratefulness that John would go to the personal expense of coming to Esther’s weekend. Wayne asked him if he’d ever thought of himself as a kind of Doctor Who. When John looked a bit puzzled, Wayne went on:

“Well, I’ve been watching Doctor Who episodes with Esther and it seems to be a story about an amazing, but lonely alien—with two hearts, by the way—who is full of love for humanity and who goes around the universe doing extraordinary things, one of which is to periodically drop out of the sky in order to choose a surprised and lucky passenger to accompany him on what he calls, his ‘next adventure!’ After promising to turn the would-be passenger’s world upside down, he always gives them the chance to decline. Of course, they choose to join him and by their journey’s end, they are changed and the Doctor is changed, too, always for the better.”



Esther’s father then looked John in the eye and said,

“I think you are the Doctor and Esther is your present passenger. I don’t know why you chose her now, but thank you for inviting her along for the ride. Mostly, though, we know that you love her. That’s the easy-to-understand part.”



A few minutes later they went up to the hotel room where everyone had gathered, waiting for this singular, thrilling moment when John Green himself would enter their world. Just as the door opened—like some old-time gunslinger—John pulled out his video camera and began filming. They spent the entire magical day with him, eating pizza together, playing games and talking, and crying, too. The group played the game Serious Ball, which involved tossing around a foam volleyball covered with questions to which each friend had contributed. When the ball was tossed, the recipient would have to answer the specific question underneath wherever his or her right thumb happened to land. A few of the questions included, “Biggest fear with the future?” “What’s impacted you the most in past five years?” “Your happiest moment and why?” “One goal by end of year?” “What do you care about?” “What would you say to J.K. Rowling if you had chance to meet her?” and “What one thing would you change about self and why?” Later that evening they drank espresso with John in the nearby Italian North End, an event Esther later described with one simple sentence: “We walked into the North End, we got gelato and espresso, and John was fun to just chill with.” Outside the café, John purchased two roses from a vendor, handing one to Esther. The other he gave to fellow Cat, Arka, saying, “Well, he’s the only other guy and I don’t want to discriminate.”

Before John left the hotel the following day, he wrote a note to Esther. Written on hotel stationery, he drew an arrow pointing to the printed words on the top of the page which said, “IDEAS WORTH SAVING” and added his own thought, scribbling, “I can’t promise that, actually.” He continued,

Dear Esther:

This was the stationery at the hotel where I spent one of the most important nights of my life. Thank you for the gift of that day, for your generosity, and for your pizza. I feel very lucky to know you—and as far as I have seen, to know you is literally to love you.

What a star shines on our little planet. I pray for a miracle so that I will never have to miss you—but know this: So long as I remember anything, I will remember you and the unprecedented gifts you’ve shared with me.

Love,

John