Dear Christie

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Dear Christie,
I’m sorry I never got to be there for you, but I hope you understand why. Meeting you has - well, it would be a dream come true but I guess I’m just not lucky enough. I suppose it'll take a while for you to really understand me, I just hope you don't hate me forever. Your mummy, my dear, is an amazing woman and she will certainly raise you to be someone just as wonderful as her. I don't really have a lot to say, but I just wanted to leave some physical memory for you. One important rule: Always listen to mummy, okay?
I’m also sorry for telling you and Mummy I’ll return, when I knew I possibly couldn’t. I just wanted you to know that I only did this because I love you. Winning this war could make life so much easier for you, I just wanted you and your mummy to live in a better world. If I weren’t in the army, maybe you would’ve had me around as you grew up but I chose to join it at my own will, you can blame me for that. I’ll be waiting for you in heaven, sweetie,I know you’ll get there.
Love,
Dad.
Last edited by DukeofWonderland on Sat Aug 06, 2011 3:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
"The duke had a mind that ticked like a clock and, like a clock, it
regularly went cuckoo."
-- Terry Pratchett, "Wyrd Sisters"




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Hi there, Maimoona!
You did a nice job of conveying your emotion in such a short space without "telling" the reader. I have some very nit-picky things to point out. :)
Meeting you… would be a dream come true but I’m not lucky enough.

Most people will tell you not to use an ellipsis to show a pause; a dash (-) is usually preferred. Also, when you have a compound sentence, sometimes you need a comma, and sometimes you don't. In this case, you need a comma before "but I'm not..." If you take out the conjunction (one of the FANBOYs - for, and , nor, but, or, yet) and look at the clauses on either side, it's easier to tell if you need the comma. If both clauses can stand on there own as complete sentences, you need a comma. If one clause is a fragment, you don't use a comma. I hope I'm making some sort of sense. :) I'll leave it to you to go through and do the rest of them. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to PM me.

Carol is an amazing woman and she will certainly raise you to be someone just as wonderful as her.

This is really picky, but I don't know that he would call her "Carol." If he's talking to the child, he probably would call her "mom." Unless Carol isn't the mom; then I'm confused.
This may be too little, but I just wanted to keep something for you.The wording of this sentence confused me. If he's dead, how is he going to keep something to give his daughter? One important rule: ALWAYS listen to mommy, okay?

It's not wrong to have the word "always" in all capital letters, but would you consider putting it in italics instead? It's entirely your call. :D And when you refer to a family member by their family title (Mom, Dad, Sister, Uncle, etc.) without a possessive adjective in front of it (my, our, their, your, etc.) it needs to be capitalized. If it does follow one of said adjectives, then it should be lower case. So, "Mommy" should be capitalized here.
I’m also sorry for saying I’ll return when I knew I possibly couldn’t#FF0000 ">, I only did this because I love you. Winning this war could make life much easier#FF0000 ">, I just wanted you and your mummy to live in a better world. If I weren’t in the army#FF0000 ">, maybe you would’ve had me around but I chose to join it#FF0000 ">, you can blame me for that. I’ll be waiting in heaven, sweetie#FF0000 ">,I know you’ll get there.

All of these sentences are comma splices. A comma splice is when you combine two independent sentences with nothing more than a comma. You can fix this easily by changing the highlighted commas to either periods or semicolons or adding some conjunctions in there. :) And I love that last sentence. :D A lot.

This is another super minuscule thing, but he calls the mom by three different names throughout the letter: Carol, Mommy, and Mummy. You might just pick one.

Overall, I thought this was a refreshingly simple piece. You didn't bog it down with melodrama, which conveyed some characterization of the father. If you have any questions or want to discuss anything in your review, feel absolutely free to shoot a PM my way. :D
Happy writing,
-Sea-
'Let's eat Grandma!' or, 'Let's eat, Grandma!' Punctuation saves lives.

Reviews? You know you want one. :)

*Ribbit*




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Maimoona, that was simply beautiful. The entire piece is written with such emotion.
I got confused at the beginning about why the dad was writing and thought it was just another piece about broken family. But I reached the second paragraph and saw that it was a dad writing to his daughter from Iraq or somewhere within a war zone, and it’s really refreshing to read something like that that isn’t mainly concerned about a broken family.

I don't really have a lot to say, but #BF0040 ">I just wanted to leave some physical memory for you.


This line didn’t really make much sense to me. What was the memory? Was the memory the letter? That’s pretty much all I can think of at the moment.

But all in all, it was very enjoyable to read such a beautiful and emotional piece. Keep writing. :)



Life is about losing everything.
— Isabel Allende