I watched carefully as she signed, paid close attention to the shapes her fingers made and tried to identify each one. Two of the letters in our names were the same, so I paid particularly close attention to the E and the A.

Then I picked up my pen again and wrote, Can you show me how to sign my name?

It was a small thing to start with, we would hardly be able to have a conversation that way, but it was still a start. I would get a book as soon as I was able, I had already decided.