Trips to the government center aren't what I'd typically call joyful. Necessary? Sure. Full of purpose? Of course.

But the flags bouncing in the air as a few complete strangers walked out across the parking lot of county's main government building last Wednesday gave them away.

There was joy there.

I didn't know the women holding the flags, wasn't about to interrogate complete strangers in a parking lot. But I had a feeling they'd just become the latest citizens of the United States, a fact confirmed in a Democrat story a few days later.

It's an oft forgotten fact that this Monticello building plays host to ceremonies that change the course of lives.

It's a place most of us go because we need something done — a driver's license renewed, an important document notarized, a passport applied for, a business license application processed.

But naturalization ceremonies, held under the auspices of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, represent another kind of something being done. They're the culmination of a journey for the new citizen and another step forward for a country built by people who have come together from disparate parts of the world to form one nation.

That's something we should all be joyful about.