Dear Mrs. Lannon:

You were my hero. I suppose it's strange I should have picked my biology teacher to hero-worship (it used to be called "schoolgirl crush" but crushes are now so linked to romantic and/or sexual interest that I hate to use the term) when my own mother used to be a bio teacher. Then again, perhaps it's not so strange.

You were kind enough to correspond with me, and express interest in my activities, at a time when being treated as an adult and having adult friends was very important to me.

And you still owe me that ice cream.