“I don’t think your grandfather would be very proud to see his named signed like that,”
John stated matter-of-factly as he took the health certificate from my hand.

I looked down inquisitively at my signature and then back up to Dr. Bodner and asked,
“What do you mean?”

“Oh, one time I scribbled my name on a check at a garage sale when the older gentleman behind the table said the same thing to me He suggested that my grandfather sacrificed greatly so that I might be free and prosperous and out of respect to him and his efforts I should sign his name in a legible fashion. Since then I have,” John explained.

After that conversation I too vowed to always sign my name legibly; my grandfathers
deserve nothing less.

In January of 2007 I was sworn in to the Montana State Legislature. During the first
week of the session a legislative clerk collects the official signature of all 150
representatives and senators. These signatures are scanned and recorded so throughout
the session your signature on any document can be verified as authentic.

The clerk placed the list on my desk and waited for my signature. I quickly glanced at all
the flamboyant loops, hoops and swoops on the line above the typewritten names of other
legislators. None were legible. Carefully and with great respect, I signed the name gifted
to me by my grandfather. When I finished my signature I handed the clerk the list and
relayed the lesson Dr. Bodner taught me several years earlier. He politely acknowledged
my story and said, “That is a good idea.” Then he continued collecting signatures.

One month later that same staffer strode up to my desk and said, “You won’t believe
what happened to me yesterday. After hearing your story I decided to start doing the
same, so for the past 30 days I have been writing my name in a fashion to make my
grandfather proud. Yesterday my bank, the one I have used for 10 years, bounced one of
my checks because they said it wasn’t my signature. I had to submit a new signature
card.” We both chuckled.

If that doesn’t make you think the next time you are facing a blank line begging your
signature, here is another signature story from a different John: Two hundred thirty-tree
years ago a man signed his name to what might become his own death sentence.

Born into poverty in Braintree Massachusetts in 1737, John was orphaned at age 7 and
then adopted by his childless Uncle Tom. In 1754 he graduated Harvard with a business
degree and joined his uncle in the merchant business. 1760 and ’61 found John
developing professional contacts in England and he later returned to America and
assumed the helm of his uncles thriving business.

John certainly had the wealth to assume the life of the idle aristocrat and was expected to
be loyal to the crown. However, the yearning for freedom infected John just as it did
other revolutionaries in Boston at that time and many times he found himself crossways
with British authorities.

In 1768 his sloop “Liberty” was impounded and he was charged with smuggling 75 pipes
of Maderia wine. As there were only 25 pipes on board a ship that should carry 100
pipes, Duty Tax collectors thought something was amiss. John filed suit and after several
months of battles the British authorities dropped the charges without explanation. This
encouraged John and others.

Unable to avoid the temptation to again kick a hornet’s nest, 1773 found John quietly
promoting the demonstration that became known as the Boston Tea Party. King George
was furious and in early 1776 he offered a large reward for the capture of John and other
instigators of the revolution brewing in the New World.

In one final desperate act on July 4th 1776, under the threat of certain execution, the
revolutionaries proclaimed their independence from the crown. In enduring prose they
declared:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit
of Happiness— That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving
their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute new Government,…
…— And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine
Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

John, the wealthiest man in New England, was the first to step forward; he firmly gripped the
writing quill and boldly signed: John Hancock. “There, I guess King George will be able
to read that!” John is reported to have said as he handed the quill to Josiah Bartlett, the second
signer of the Declaration of Independence.

This Independence Day, whether you are signing a check or a Declaration of State’s Rights
reminding the federal government to keep their hands off your guns, think about your grandfather
and John Hancock when someone hands you a pen and says, “Sign here.” Be legible, but equally
important, be bold!