What a Nice Meme That Would Make

I didn't have the happiest of times at school, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. But in amongst the rubbishness I had a handful of utterly brilliant teachers. People who got me excited about learning and, in a couple of cases, introduced me to writing. I can honestly say that without them I wouldn't have had the confidence or have been inspired to try my hand at writing. That's a pretty big deal. So, as a thank you, I've always sent the good ones copies of my books.

I received a letter from one of them a few weeks ago saying that he was retiring in July. That's going to be a big loss to that school. This is the person who got me excited about subordinate clauses. This is the person who showed me that poetry was something I could understand. This is the person who assured me that it was fine that I didn't get 'Lord of the Flies' when I first read it for a project when I was (I think) thirteen. This is the person (well, one of them) who stood up for me when he didn't have to. He made a difference. AND he got me excited about literature.

As I've said, he's retiring at the end of this term. Yesterday, I wrote him a short letter, just saying thanks and explaining to him why I'm thankful. I thought it was a good thing for a person to do. So I did it. And it looks like I've done it here too.

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And here's me from around that time. Bet I'm not all that difficult to spot.