I too am a big fan of MASH. So when I saw there was a word search, I decided to give it a try. I am usually very good at this, but I must say that this was a real challenge. Your selection of words was pretty much the same ones I'd have chosen.
Like a clarion call in the dark, the voice of a loved one can lead us to salvation or defeat. Fortunately in this case, the father urges his child on with words of encouragement and comfort. It is with this unswerving belief that we can do whatever is necessary that we are guided onto the right path for our survival and safety.
While the destination is never made clear, I guess it really doesn't matter. The fact that the voice itself becomes the destination representing safety is enough.
Saying goodbye to a parent, or anyone we love, is one of the most difficult things we shall ever do in this life. You are to be commended for sharing such a personal experience with others here so they can see how well it can be done and how healing it can be for those left behind.
Your mother sounds like a remarkable woman and you were fortunate to have her for as long as you did.
Certainly after forty years a memory can take on a life of its own as this one surely has. Even though you were only one at the time, I'm sure it can seem as though it is a true and real memory all your own.
Having grown up on the east coast, I can identify with the weather being almost another character in the story.
I accessed this page expecting a word search. What I found was a well researched and written presentation of the importance of the Irish imigration movement of the mid-19th century.
Being Scotch-Irish myself I was very pleased and impressed with what you presented here.
As one who lived through and has intimate knowledge of the Vietnam War, I could readily identify with the scenario set forth here. Combat is something that is both visceral and exciting at the same time. The sights, sounds, smells and textures are captured well in this realistic story of a firefight in the jungle where battlelines are either constantly moving or completely non-existent.
Death and terror came swiftly and ended just as quickly with little to show for the time other than the death and destruction left in its wake.
You are to be commended for writing such an evocative piece, and I hope others read it and get a sense of the emotional impact that is the residue of war.
As I read these words the thought came to me that I could have written this myself. It struck a chord in me because I too have the same feelings of loneliness and aloneness. What is worse is when you know that due to your own actions this has been visited upon you.
We like to think that things work out for the best in the end, but at times like this and feeling like that, it is exceedingly difficult to see any light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel.
I guess we can take some solace in knowing that no matter how hard it gets there are others out there who feel the same if not worse. Though I take no pleasure in another's pain and sorrow.
You are to be commended for at east being able to put your feelings out there for others like me to share in and appreciate.
Only time will tell if there is truly a reason for the things that happen.
Take comfort in the knowledge that you are not alone.
Many of us can relate to the family member or close friend who changes in ways that make it difficult for us to relate to them. In their changing they also affect us and can effect a change in us as well. The thesis that we never know what or when or even how our lives will change is universal and certainly deserves exploration.
Your initial set-up is adequate but I feel there is more that can be established in the opening to draw the reader into the story's action.
As far as technical concerns, the following are ones that stood out:
life change"s"
it contained rich (remove spaces and pluralize) businessman "who"
since as long -- awkward, try instead "for as long"
becoming "a" wealthy
Remember, editing is as important as anything else the writer does. Grammar and syntax errors are things that cause the reader to lose the thread of the story as they correct these things themselves and they are entirely in the writer's control.
Still, this is a good start and should be able to support the story structure that follows.
Dick's journey from closet card writer to published author mimics much of what many of us here on Writing.com have experienced. This story rang true to the fact that for most of us our first audience and critics are those friends and family around us to whom we expose ourselves and our material.
Then it becomes esential and necessary for us to put the work out there for others to read, evaluate and -- unfortunately -- reject. Which is all too often the case for some time to come.
But when he finally learned the valuable lesson that as writers it is our obligation to make the reader experience something and feel something for having read the writer's words, he truly becomes an author worthy of being called a writer.
This comes through clearly from the author and hopefully to those here that read this worthwhile piece.
Having been a dog owner and lover all my life, I can identify with the character's feelings toward the nightly walk -- it is something to be enjoyed sometimes and dreaded at other times.
There is a sense that Shimmy has a relationship with Roscoe that is what one would expect of a teenager (at least I felt she was a teenager) and the family dog. Her concern that she was the only one of her friends out at that time doing this chore strikes me as reasonable.
On the down side, I felt that something more should have happened to flesh out this little episode -- perhaps Roscoe takes off forcing Shimmy to chase him down and grab his leash lending a little comedy to the story. As it is, very little really happens during the story.
That being said, however, the writing is good and the story that there is is charming.
Keep writing and I look forward to reading more from you in the future.
This word search was slightly above average in difficulty. But then again, I am very good at solving this sort of puzzle as it took me about twenty-five seconds to find each word.
Of course the selction of the topic determined your word selection, however, in the future you should use shorter words to increase the challenge.
This word search was about average in difficulty. I solved it in less than 30 secinds per word. Since it is your first one, I congratulate you on it.
In order to make future ones more challenging, I suggest you select words that begin with as many different letters as possible, thus forcing the person to look for as many different variations on the beginning letter as is possible.
You have a pretty good mix of long and short word -- the shorter the harder they are to find.
Of the dozens of word searches that I have encountered and solved on this site in particular, this is the first one where all the words were in a vertical pattern.
Since I am aware that you only select the words and not the order or the pattern, I would suggest to make it more challenging, have some words with just a few letters to vary the puzzle.
But I must say, with the Fourth of July coming soon, this is certainly an appropriate puzzle at this time.
Thanks for the word search and make some more cerntering on holidays.
This was the easiest word search I have ever done. Solved in under 5 minutes.
But I must say it was also one of the most pleasing because I got the first 8 words before having tolook at the list. As a child of the BEATLES era, it brought back many pleasant memories of that earlier, innocent time.
Thanks for the memories.
I rated it so high for the fun factor not the dirriculty of solzing the puzzle.
This was among the most difficult word searches I have done in a long time. The fact that all words began with an A made it even more challenging then it would have otherwise been. The varying length of the words selected also added to making the solution harder.
However, I took off points because several words like "ale" and "art" were repeated and made it a bit frustrating.
All in all, it was a satisfying puzzle to work on.
The thing that strikes me about this story is that it is touching without being maudlin or overly-sentimental. The thread running trough it and across the generations is touching. The sense of family history comes through and the feeling of loss when the old man can't join in is palpable.
I think an actual description of what the photograph captured would be helpful and poigniant as a way of showing the difference from the early days and the end of the story.
Perhaps there is a little more story here than what has been told.
But it shows a good sense of feeling for the generational situation.
This story is well written. It covers the subject of how our early childhood forms us as people later in life and how those adults in our lives can, for better or worse, create a well-remembered childhood or a hell to be forgotten.
I knew families like this when I was young and therefore the surprise twist at the end of the story was not as much of a surprise as it might have otherwise been. In fact, the story set-up leaves almost no other possible denouement. Still yet, the writing is very evocative and emotional satisfying.
I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to others.
I would rate the difficulty of this word search a little bit above average. The thing that made it most challenging was the varying length of the words selected.
Since I don't know how these puzzles are constructed, the thing that would have made it more of a challenge would be to have included several more words (it had 21 not 25).
Having lived through Hurricanes in Miami, I would have included plywood, games, and perhaps a few more words. But I did enjoy this one and would look forward to do others from you.
This word search was one of the most interesting and challenging that this site has to offer so far. The names are inclusive of those I remember from my early history lessons and are made a bit more difficult with the inclusion of the numbers for the various monarchs.
I can't think of anything that would make this a better challenge.
Of the word searches I have encountered on this site, this was one of the more difficult ones to solve. Part of this was due to the words chosen and part of this was due to the fact that I was not familiar with the names of the volcanos enough to know the spelling without check it several times.
Of the many word search puzzles I've solved here on this site, this was one of the easiest. While I know that the program used doesn't allow you to choose the placement on the grid, a good mix of longer and shorter words would add a great deal more challenge to this puzzle.
Varying word length and spelling makes the grid harder to determine.
Still, I enjoyed this puzzle very much.
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