Who's Esther White?
Esther was unique. When God made Esther Mary White he threw the mould away and we want to tell you about her 22 years of life.
We are Ian and Ros White, her parents and we feel privileged to have had her as part of our family
She was born in Northwick Park Hospital on 31st May 1986 and she was a happy little girl who just loved building dens and houses out of bed clothes, airing racks and anything else which came to hand. If no continental quilts could be found on the beds in our hose we knew Esther was building, usually with her older brother Christopher.
She was always very shy but seemed to gather a large number of loyal friends around her. This self-effacing nature would eventually endear her to people the world over.
At one point she fell in love - not with a boyfriend but with a hyperactive albino rabbit whom only Esther seemed to be able to tame. She loved that rabbit and even had a harness to take him for walks round the estate.
As her parents, one of the gifts we dearly wante to impart was a love of music- of whatever sort. In esther this came out with her singing, clarinet and piano playing. These became a source of enormous personal joy to her.
Just before she died one of her housemates heard her singing at the top of her voice while playing an out of tune piano the worship songs that she loved the most. But she ever realised that she had an audience the concert would come to an abrupt halt. Many times we stood outside the dining room door admiring her singing and playing.
Living in Eastbourne encouraged her love of the great outdoors and we often went for long walks and even longer cycle rides to all points of the compass (except south!). She gained her silver DofE award and organised camping trips with her friends. Despite her quiet nature she became the chief story-teller at the camp.
Esther joined her brother Chris and his wife Polly me for a walking expedition up the west highland way where she would stride ahead with a backpack that weighed nearly as much as her, plus her tent on a strap round her neck, always getting to camp first and pitching up.
It wasn't just us that Esther walked with for miles in the open, at Spring Harvest in 1998 that Esther made a commitment to Jesus Christ, and began a walk with him - although we didn't discover this until several years later.
However, we easily spotted her developing walk with God and her desire to encourage others to follow Jesus. She went on to create a small group of girls who met together regularly to talk about Bible passages and pray together.
Esther was never afraid to take a bold initiative - in fact quiet bravery was one of her defining character traits. After finishing school, and at her own initiative, she set off with Youth With A Mission on a trip to Bolivia.
The sleeping arrangements were primitive in the extreme. Each member of the team slept in the church itself on two benches which had been turned round to face each other.
The trouble is, they were one bench short and so Esther, without complaining, slept on this single bench for several weeks while taking part in a children's mission.
She was also doggedly determined, and when it came to choosing a University, Strathclyde was the only choice on her UCAS application. She couldn't entertain the concept of a plan B.
Prosthetics and Orthotics was her chosen field and she was devoted to her studies. She would often ring home for a mathematical consultation from her dad.
She often said to us that the highlight of her week was Thursday evening when she came to 'Release the Word', at St George's Tron Church. Release the Word was an evening meeting where students would eat, hear a talk and discuss the Bible. This often prompted another call home - this time to talk about theology. Her love for the Bible and for God grew enormously through Release the Word.
Esther could be hilariously funny. A single comment or apparently chance remark could reduce people to fits of laughter and there were many times when her astute observations about people were packaged in a really sharp wit.
Esther was always extremely healthy and marvellously fit. But over Christmas 2007 she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. This was a deep shock to her - and to the rest of our family. But she never complained about her condition and was fiercely determined to finish the course she had started. Giving up was not a concept Esther ever contemplated for long. There were difficulties with her condition and following a spell in hospital last May she reluctantly decided to take a break from her course.
During this difficult time two blessings came into her life which transformed her. One of her best friends from Eastbourne came to share a house with her in Glasgow and Esther got a job in a nursing home as a care assistant. Her gentle, caring nature made her ideally suited to this role and she thoroughly enjoyed her work - even caring for a former manager of the Scotland football team!
Some parents might want to say they're 'proud' to have so-and-so as a daughter, but we feel as if it has been more of a privilege. We feel privileged that we were entrusted by God with such a unique woman.
Her quiet, reflective, gentle, deep thinking, courageous and caring spirit will remain with us always – and we know with many of you too.
Over Christmas 2008 she was at home and discovered a song, written for young people in 1897 that just in love with - and when Esthr got a song on the brain there was no shifting it! We heard it over and over and over again. One of our lasting memories of her is playing this CD for the umpteenth time and dancing round the room to the music of the song "Count your blessings".