I stepped away from the microphone.
Grace ran toward me first.
“Mom!”
“What?”
“You forgot the best part.”
“What best part?”
She pointed toward the newest building.
A sign had been covered with a white cloth.
Emily joined us.
“We added something.”
“You added something to my project without permission?”
“You sound like Grandma Patricia.”
“Terrifying.”
Daniel laughed.
“Just look.”
Lucas pulled the cord.
The cloth dropped.
The building was named:
THE CLAIRE BENNETT CENTER FOR WOMEN IN DESIGN & ENGINEERING
I stared at them.
“No.”
“Yes,” Emily said.
“I’m still alive. You don’t name buildings after living people.”
Grace shrugged.
“We checked. You can.”
I laughed and cried at the same time.
“Who approved this?”
Every hand went up.
Adrian.
Anna.
Daniel.
Lucas.
Patricia.
Barbara.
Even Vanessa.
“Traitors.”
Emily hugged me.
“You spent years thinking everyone else’s future mattered more than yours.”
She pointed at the building.
