I think everyone in my family went through the "Santa isn't real" phase - and all of us grew out of it. NO - Santa may not be a guy in a red suit who comes down the chimney on the night of Dec 24rth, but in many ways he is real. So is the Easter Beagle, Harvey the Pooka, and our own "family spirit", Pamplemousse - who is half a greenland elf, half leprechaun and lives in my oldest brothers left ear.