I saw Rosa sitting beside Nia near the front.

They did not applaud more loudly than anyone else, but both met my eyes afterward.

When the gathering ended, the building was full of employees moving between floors, laughing and carrying folders and trays of food.

I rode the executive elevator with a custodian, two junior analysts, and a vice president.

Nobody seemed to think it was unusual.

I smiled at that ordinary sight.

In a year filled with difficult changes, it felt like one of the clearest signs that we’d begun to make something better.