Super-Sad True Love Story

Awhile back, a student came to my office and asked if I could help her with something she was writing.  She brought me over to the computer she was working on and showed me the document.  To my surprise, it was not a class assignment, but an e-mail.  This was several months ago, so obviously I'm not quoting it verbatim, but basically it went like this:

"I am writing to wish to you a Merry Christmas.  I wrote to you every year for nine years.  I know you don't write back.  I hope sometime you write back.  I think of you every time and even you don't want to write to me I still think of you and love you always."

Before I could give much consideration to whether I should say something about how she shouldn't be using school computers for her personal e-mails--or whether I was facilitating stalking by helping her--she began grilling me about the letter.

"'I am writing to wish to you a Merry Christmas.' Is OK?"

"Well. . .yes, you wouldn't say 'to wish TO you.'   Just 'to wish you.'"

"Ah!  OK.  'to wish YOU a Merry Christmas.'  OK.  'I wrote to you every year for nine years.'"

"Yes--"

"Excuse me,  'FOR nine years' or 'SINCE nine years.'"

"No, you're right, 'for nine years.'  Only you'd say 'have written.'"

"Ah!  'I HAVE WRITTEN to you every year for nine years.'  Yes?"

"Yes."

"'For nine years'?"

"Yes!"

"OK.  OK.  'I know you don't write back.". . . .

We continued in this way through the rest of the e-mail (which was actually about three times as long as what I've shared here).  How utterly unself-conscious she was about allowing me, a complete stranger and a teacher to boot, to read this highly personal e-mail, filled with frustration and pathos!  And for what?  So this letter--presumably doomed to be consigned to some long-lost love's dead-letter file just like those sent each year for the last nine years--would be grammatically correct?  Did she imagine her inability to express herself in proper English led to rejection?

As I got up to go back to my office, she thanked me for helping her.  I was almost too embarrassed to say, "You're welcome."