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I was an early adopter of Santa, and then, a fervent believer. Reasons for this included, but were not limited to: Our Jewish neighbor Ricky Blumberg (he was 20 years older than me, and a nice guy) came over on Christmas eve and said, "Can you ask Santa to get his reindeer off of our roof? They're kind of loud." This was 1974. I was six. I operated under the assumption that every Jewish male was a Rabbi. Rabbis do not lie. Ergo, this was all the proof I needed. I became a Santa Lifer. Fast forward to 7th grade. I'm in the Yearbook Club. We do nerdy stuff that's vaguely newspaper-reporter-esque. A kid named Hiroshi "interviewed" me, and when he gave his report to the class, his lead-in was this: "If you believe in Santa Claus, then you need to meet Terry Maggert." *cue laughter of class, and lose confidence for the next two decades* I've forgiven Hiroshi for his wanton cultural insensitivity ( I heard he went on to enjoy golf. I hope his game is horrible, but I'm not bitter). Regardless, that effectively ended my holdout on believing in Santa-- at least in one sense. I still believe in the power of Santa as a binder for our family joy, over and above any religious connotations that Christmas brings. It's a win/win-- I have a holiday that involves church, food, family, gifts, travel, film, cartoons, beverages, legend, memory, nostalgia, and happiness. For me, that's about as much as I can fit into one season. Hope yours is the same. Until January, when things really start happening for me, see you! Cheers, Terry