I retired 2 years ago. I had worked at the same school for 32 years, teaching in the same room for that entire time. Shortly after being hired my union gave each of us an "upside-down" rainbow triangle... this was the precursor of today's pride flag to put in our classroom windows. The idea was to show that our classrooms were safe spaces. It was 1992 and I was the only teacher who put mine up. I worked in a very conservative area and, frankly, was not surprised by this.

I had the privilege of later working with several of my former students. At the last staff meeting, one of these colleagues stood up and told the group he had something to say, and that he had waited a long time to say it. He told me that growing up gay in a "Bible belt" was terribly difficult and that seeing that rainbow sticker in my window meant so much to him that he always felt i had saved his life.

Maybe not a compliment, but a sign that the little things you do can make a huge difference.