Monday, June 20, 2022
Esther was a very special, caring person -- the kind you can count on no matter what. I was just a little kid the first time I met her. She used her time off in the summer to help her seriously ill 1st cousin Hazel Durdle travel to New England to see some medical specialists. They stayed with us (my mother was Hazel's sister Winnie) in Connecticut. Not only was Esther there for Hazel, she also entertained me and my brother during those medical visits to Tufts in Boston. Esther did a wonderful job of distracting us from the seriousness of our Aunt Hazel's medical issues. To this day Esther's generosity, compassion, and love of life still stand out to me as a wonderful example of what it means to be family, a trusted friend, and a good citizen. Luckily, I got to reunite with her several more times in Cape Breton under more pleasant circumstances and exchange phone calls until just a few years ago. Esther will be missed.
