For World Gratitude Day, I was asked to write a thank-you to a woman outside FemdomU who had a significant impact on my life. I thought about several women, but I kept coming back to someone I haven’t seen in a very long time.

Mrs. L was one of my teachers in high school, and more importantly, she was my advisor. I don’t think I fully appreciated what she did for me at the time. Teenagers aren’t exactly famous for stopping in the middle of their own chaos and thinking, “Wow, this adult is handling this remarkably well.” Looking back as an adult, though, I realize how fortunate I was to have her in my corner.

There was some pretty major stuff happening in my life during those years. Some of it involved decisions that felt enormous at the time because, frankly, they were enormous. Mrs. L never pretended she had a magic answer for me. She also never treated my problems like stupid teenage bullshit that I’d eventually get over. She listened. Really listened. She asked questions, challenged me when I needed challenging, and somehow helped me separate what I was feeling in the moment from what I actually wanted for myself.

What I appreciate most is that she didn’t make my decisions for me. She guided me toward making reasonable ones myself. That’s a pretty fucking impressive skill when you’re dealing with a teenage boy who is confused, emotional, stubborn, convinced he understands everything, and simultaneously has absolutely no idea what the hell he’s doing.

She also took a genuine interest in my well-being beyond grades and schoolwork. When she asked how I was doing, she actually wanted the answer. When something seemed wrong, she noticed. Sometimes just knowing there was an adult I trusted enough to talk to made whatever I was dealing with seem a little less overwhelming.

I doubt Mrs. L remembers every conversation we had. Teachers encounter hundreds, sometimes thousands, of students over their careers. What was one difficult afternoon for me may have simply been another Tuesday for her. That’s one of the amazing things about good teachers. They can change the direction of a kid’s life without necessarily realizing they’ve done it.

So, Mrs. L, wherever life took you, thank you.

Thank you for listening without judging me. Thank you for taking teenage problems seriously when they were serious. Thank you for knowing when to offer advice and when to shut up and let me figure something out. Most of all, thank you for treating me like the person I was becoming instead of just the dumbass teenage boy standing in front of you.

I didn’t have the perspective to properly appreciate that then.

I absolutely do now.