Then the cadets in the center of the field rose as one, their white caps flying into the air like a cloud of paper.

General Vance stepped over to the side table and picked up a heavy, polished mahogany box that held the academy’s highest honor.

He lifted the ribbon from the velvet lining and placed the Distinguished Graduate Medal around my neck.

Derek kept his head down, staring at his polished leather dress shoes as the crowd rose to its feet around him.

My mother stayed frozen in her folding chair, surrounded by thousands of standing parents who were cheering for her daughter.