Responses

Soon after I put up the "Questions" post, my cousin,Jennie, sent me an e-mail and we then proceeded to send a few e-mails back and forth. Jennie and I are about six months apart. We are first cousins but I consider her to be like a sister since we basically grew up together. Now we are both parents.I guess that moment of "truth" really is a universal experience. Here are some excerpts from our e-mails today.
Jennie:

I was just reading your blog and am offering up an apology for telling you the truth about Santa. I don't remember telling you there was no Santa, but I do vividly remember the day I asked my mom if there really was a Santa. I had been wondering about it for some time, and one day, while my mom was sitting reading at the kitchen table (the old kitchen at the house on Columbus Street), I asked her if there really was a Santa. She hesitated a little bit and then said she thought I was old enough -- no, there is no Santa, but please don't tell Peter.
It's funny how just about everyone remembers when they found out there was no Santa. It's like it becomes a marker in growing up.

Lucia:

...don't worry about telling me about Santa. I really didn't believe you and I remember continuing to believe my hardest in Santa until I found those presents. Like you I remember the setting when I confronted my mom about Santa. In the bathroom of our old house (that weird bathroom opened up into the dining room...remember that?). You are right I think it must be one of those rites of passage. I had a friend who's mother saved all of her teeth and when my friend found them her mother told her they were just "old pearls"! and my friend believed her!