Jesus Murphy, did I ever have a crush on Claire Radford. One of those can't eat, can't sleep crushes. I thought she was the greatest thing on two legs. And at that point in my life, she was. There was Claire Radford and Lysa Toye, both of whom I was deliriously gaga over. I'm still friends with Lysa. Haven't seen Claire since I ran into her on the street in Toronto about fourteen years ago, when I was at university and she was just transferring there. We exchanged phone numbers, but I never called her.

I also tried to make a pass at her younger sister Daphne once, but made such a flub of that that I still flinch and weep a bit internally when I think about it. God, I was such a dork in high school. Holy cow.

Anyway, Claire was nice and beautiful and still kind of has this magic glow in my memory. Claire Radford. Boy oh boy. It's probably a mercy that I haven't seen her since we were both teenagers, because if the bloom came off the rose it would kill a little of the 15-year-old inside of me.