“My brother told me when I was 8. It caught me off guard, I didn’t believe it at first. I couldn’t pull myself to tell anybody else about it.”

Keenan Cochran, Merciful

 

 

 

 

 

 

“My mom told me to get her purse from her room. I went to grab it from under her bed, and there was the guitar I had asked Santa for.”

Demarion Johnson, Appointed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“It was a rough start. I found out in the sixth grade. I thought if Santa wasn’t real, then was Jesus real? But that thought only lasted 10 minutes.”

Tiara Brand, Vindicated

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“My parents never told me that Santa was real, and so I was the kid in school who ruined it for everyone else.”

Sarah Nesselroade, Visionary

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos by Madeline Mullenbach