This is one of those thank-yous left unsaid until too late.

I just got the sad news that one of my dearest teachers and mentors passed away last night.

Miss Ramos was in charge of our Grade 5 homeroom – if memory serves me correctly. What I remember most clearly about her are her sweet expression and her smile, and the way she would listen attentively to everything I confided to her during our regular, one-on-one chats (for which she always obligingly pulled me out of math class).

Hindsight, as they say, is 20-20. It’s only now that I’m starting to appreciate how privileged I was to have the teachers that I did – intelligent, talented, creative, sensitive women, strict but fair, funny and kind, courageous – and unforgettable.

Thank you, ladies. Your reach extends further than you know. The lessons you taught are now being passed on to a whole new generation of young women on the other side of the ocean.

But part of me will always stay a little girl, learning in your classroom.