The Retirement Party

Aiden's Wednesday started like any other. He made coffee, answered a few emails, and joined the ten o'clock team meeting without expecting anything unusual.

艾登的星期三和平常一样开始了。他煮了咖啡，回复了几封邮件，然后加入十点钟的团队会议，丝毫没有预料到会有什么特别的事。

Halfway through the meeting, Felipe, the office's oldest employee, raised his hand. "Before we continue," he said, "I have something to share." The room went quiet.

会议进行到一半，办公室里资历最老的员工费利佩举起了手。“在继续之前，”他说，“我有件事想告诉大家。”房间里安静了下来。

Felipe had worked at the company for over thirty years. He had trained half the people in the room, including Aiden, who had joined only two years ago.

费利佩在公司工作了三十多年。屋里一半的人都是他带出来的，包括只来了两年的艾登。

"I've decided it's time," Felipe said, smiling. "I'm retiring at the end of this month."

“我决定了，是时候了，”费利佩笑着说，“我这个月底退休。”

For a moment, nobody spoke. Then someone started clapping, and soon the whole room joined in. Aiden felt a strange mix of happiness for Felipe and surprise that he hadn't seen it coming.

有那么一会儿，没有人说话。接着有人开始鼓掌，很快整个房间的人都跟着鼓起掌来。艾登心里五味杂陈，既为费利佩感到高兴，又惊讶自己事先竟毫无察觉。

"I wasn't planning an announcement like this," Felipe admitted. "But it seemed better than an email nobody reads."

“我本来没打算这样宣布，”费利佩坦白地说，“不过这总比发一封没人看的邮件强。”

After the meeting, people gathered around Felipe's desk, asking questions and sharing memories. Someone mentioned they should throw a proper party before he left.

会后，大家围到费利佩的办公桌旁，有人提问，有人回忆往事。还有人提议，在他离开之前应该好好办一场告别会。

Aiden, who had barely spoken to Felipe outside of work meetings, found himself volunteering to help organize it. "I can book the conference room for Friday afternoon," he offered.

艾登和费利佩除了工作会议以外几乎没说过话，可他发现自己竟主动请缨帮忙筹办。“我可以订下周五下午的会议室，”他说。

"That would be great," said another coworker. "If we plan it fast, we can still get the good caterer downtown."

“太好了，”另一位同事说，“要是我们动作快，还能请到市中心那家很棒的餐饮商。”

Over the next three days, a small group put together decorations and food. They also built a slideshow of old photos, dug up by Felipe's closest colleagues from years of events.

接下来的三天里，一小群人布置了装饰，准备了食物。他们还做了一个幻灯片，里面是费利佩最亲近的同事们从多年的活动中翻出来的老照片。

On Friday, the conference room filled with nearly everyone from the office. Felipe stood near the front, looking genuinely surprised at the size of the crowd.

星期五，会议室里挤进了差不多全办公室的人。费利佩站在前面，看到这么多人，显得真的很惊讶。

Aiden raised his cup for a toast. "Felipe taught half of us everything we know here," he said. "The least we could do was learn how to throw a decent party too."

艾登举起杯子敬酒。“我们当中一半的人，在这里学到的一切都是费利佩教的，”他说，“我们至少也该学会怎么办一场像样的聚会。”

Felipe laughed loudly, raising his own cup in return. "You've all done better than decent," he said. "Now somebody cut the cake before I change my mind about retiring."

费利佩放声大笑，也举起了自己的杯子。“你们做得比‘像样’好多了，”他说，“现在谁快来切蛋糕，不然我就要改主意不退休了。”