Esther Earl was an amazing young woman.
Battling with thyroid cancer, she became famous for her heart-wrenchingly honest video blogs about her struggle with the illness.
Her story is set to touch even more people thanks to John Green's novel The Fault In Our Stars, inspired by Esther's life.
And, with a movie adaptation currently in production, it seems as if this teen's story will continue to touch people everywhere.
But, to make sure people can separate the real Esther from the fiction, her parents have released a book entitled This Star Won't Go Out, which includes a collection of handwritten notes, essays and pictures from Esther, her friends and doctors.
The most poignant of all?
The letter that Esther wrote to herself through futureme.org, a website that allows you to send a note to yourself to be delivered in the future.
More than a year after her death an unexpected e-mail arrived in Lori and Wayne Earl’s inbox.
It was written by Esther, when she was 14, for her 17-year-old self. It is a message complete with the emoticons and informal punctuation of a teen, but a teen suffering from thyroid cancer.
It reads: *"i hope that if you still have your cancer, at least it will be gone enough for you to be off oxygen. and if it’s not, just remember to use that Ocean Spray to keep your nostrils moist :] and i hope you’ve tried to talk to more people that also have cancer. *
"in the world, there’s not ONLY boring people with cancer. there are people that are awesome, but maybe you just haven’t met them yet. you never will if you don’t try.
Esther seeks to inspire her 17-year-old self, saying: "remember how you always wanted to do something for the world? remember that? if you haven’t done something amazing, don’t forget to try. **
"the worst that can happen is you fail, and then you can just try again until you succeed. those words don’t work on me now, but just try to remember them."
The teen made sure to enquire after her family - particularly her parents - asking her older self to tell her mother and father how much she loves them whenever she can:
"and then there’s mom and dad. oh, mom, how is she? is she teaching again? is she happy? she works so hard now, everyday she’s so exhausted. she does too much. i love her, and remember to tell her that everyday."
At the end she says “just…just be happy. and if you can’t be happy, do things that make you happy. or do nothing with people that make you happy.”
Esther's parents have released their biography to raise money and awareness for their This Star Won’t Go Out Foundation, which helps families who have children with life-threatening cancer.
Her father says: “I think parents should read it. Caregivers should read it. Parents who have kids who aren’t sick should read it.”
Watch the trailer for The Fault In Our Stars below: