Transactions
"I don't get what my signature is supposed to mean if we haven't had some kind of exchange." - Nana Visitor
Actress Nana Visitor nailed it. What else is a signature if not a transaction?
When the Naval Order of the United States (https://www.navalorder.org/) opened its membership to enlisted personnel, I was the twelfth former Navy enlisted voted into its ranks. I went on to be its Managing Editor and twice its Registrar General, and in that capacity, my signature was on each certificate of new members. That document was breathtakingly beautiful and impactful and it was my honor to issue member numbers, enter them into NOUS rolls, and sign the certificate with the Commander General.
Two certificates stand out in particular. One is the one presented to former President George H. W. Bush. While I do not know if he ever had it on a wall anywhere, the thought a former Commander in Chief and heroic WWII aviator having my signature on a treasured document - somewhere, anywhere - was cool.
The other was the one issued to my Dad. Also a veteran of WWII, he was a ship's officer in every theater of that conflict. I know for certain he displayed it, and when he crossed the bar, it came back to me and it is in my office. As with the one for the forty-first president, it is a tangible reminder of an exchange: My personal written recognition of honorable combat service.
Lest we forget.