That was the very day of my promotion and change of command ceremony.

I pressed my thumb down hard on the paper.

I turned to the second page, where the usual legal warnings were printed in tiny type.

At the very bottom was a photocopy of a signature card.

I held the page closer to the window to catch the faint morning light coming through the oak trees.

It was my signature.

The sharp lean of the letters matched mine perfectly.

But the loops on the a’s were just a little too tight.