Mrs. Dudley was my English teacher in my freshman year of high school. She always told us to read at our desks while she left the room to smoke for 45 minutes.

In retrospect, I realize that she must have been a very unhappy woman. That's the only explanation for the odd revelations and pronouncements she always made.

She told us about her divorce. She told us about how she went to her high school reunion and found out an ex-boyfriend had died. She assured us that life would not turn out the way we expected and we would likely find ourselves disappointed with the result.

Each time, we just stared at her blankly, thinking "Well, you probably did something to earn that. Those things will never happen to us."

Because we were 14, merciless and ignorant.

Good times!