My grandparents and Hannah drove all the way down from Manchester to see me. All of us wore our dress uniform. We performed our marching drill in front of them before we were dismissed for the afternoon. Hannah made a beeline straight for me, though she stopped short as she looked me up and down, her eyes almost bulging.

"Phwoar, how fit do you look, Nate!"

Then I noticed my grandfather and the look in his eyes. He stopped before me and offered a salute. I came to attention and returned it, one retired Royal Marine to a recruit, before we hugged it out. "Your father would be proud," he...