“There, I guess King George will be able to read that without his spectacles!” John Hancock, the President of the Continental Congress, is reported to have said after he was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776.  He is remembered for his large and stylish signature so much so that the term “John Hancock” has become, in the United States at least, a synonym for a signature.  My little one has been “signing” for me electronically at places since she was two.  It has always been a thrill for her.  But by four she could actually sign her name and I still cannot quite believe it.  So when she signed for me the other day a new cashier’s eyes visibly widened and, in a side whisper to the associate next to her, she asked, “Can she DO that?!”  I told her she was authorized to sign for me and winked.  This time I was the one who was thrilled, watching my girl carefully write her name.  I find it ironic that in an electronic age we all seem to be signing more instead of less.  In fact it would seem it is almost the only thing we actually write by hand now at all.  However I’m all for going paperless on transactions.  And I am SO glad my mother forced me to take typing in high school!  At SMU in the early nineties it was all pecking on computers and I had to learn to write directly from a keyboard.  I am happy though to still see people signing guest registries at major life events.  They are wonderful to look back upon and become cherished especially when the signer is no longer with us.  Someone on my husband’s side of the family signed his name and had it etched in his wife’s wedding ring instead of just engraving it.  I always thought that was unique and meaningful.  I am also a stickler about hand signing Christmas cards.  I realize printing, stamping and even embossing are more efficient.  But they leave me feeling cold.  There is an indelible imprint and something of one’s self that remains when it’s the real thing; as if a tiny piece of that person has been ever so slightly revealed.  It may be more time consuming, but for me at least, I still intend to sign at the bottom.