Melony Turnbull

January 15, 1999

Dear Mr. Daniel Pinkwater,

How was you Chankkah days and your New Year I hope you enjoyed it. My Christmas and my new year was great for christmas I got some shoes, Pants, shirts, swetters, nintendo 64, and many other things. Oh! and New Year it was great my mom and dad Melissa and Julio went with my Grandparent Frences and Johnny to a dance and my sister, my brother and I Melony Turnbull Oh by the way my sister and brother’s names are Marisa and Louis we stayed at my aunt and uncles house but we had to stay inside because last year on new years this young man and his 2 daughters were sleeping and he was in his bed and got shot in the head so we all stayed inside their house but it was really fun but it was for our protection. Could you tell me in a letter how you celebrate your Chanjjah days and New years. Thank you for your cooperation.

Love.

Melony Turnbull

P.S. Happy Chankkah and Happy New Year

I see you are confused about the spelling of Chanukah. This is not uncommon, as there are several recognized spellings, including Hannukah, Channuka, Harmonica, and Chattahoochie. Something not known to many is that Hebrew is a language entirely without written vowels. There are vowels in spoken Hebrew, as well as consonants, maybe some dipthongs, gutterals, and sounds such as you might make if choking on an olive pit.
Thus, an authentic spelling would be ""Chnkk,"" or ""H*nn*k*h.""