My last day

Just over a year ago, I had walked into the new office, steady and unsteady. Surrounding buildings and a new transbay terminal were in rapid construction, hoisting materials, parts, people to new heights. Overwhelmed by the buzz of activity and new faces, I shuffled quickly to the solace of a new desk. I plastered a ready smile on my face. “Yes, I am ready to take on the new challenges!” I said.

On my last day, I gazed at the park on top of the new terminal. It had morphed from a concrete monster to grassy refuge replete with transplanted redwoods and palm streets. A single pathway, lightly sprinkled with dirt, circled its perimeter. How could I swoop down from the 16th floor to it, still high above the roaring angry traffic?

I gathered all my desk trinkets—the fish from a team training from college, gifts from that unwieldy time in my life, and the illustration of myself—into my small purple tote bag with a small velcro attachment.

“Bye y’all!” I wrote into the group chatroom and threw in a few emojis, gifs for a good measure. “Stay in touch.”