“I turned into Ebenezer Scrooge,” Savannah James says.

Wait, what? You read it right. I mean, fans of the ‘James Gang’ surely know that Vannah is all about Halloween. And LeBron James loyalists would also know that the man has never missed a Christmas Day game. So, the usual excitement surrounding the festival season isn’t exactly one that the James’ really rolls with. With perhaps the exception of Zhuri.

But is that enough for the 38-year-old to compare herself to the grumpy, Christmas-hating Scrooge?

Well, Mrs. James has a pretty good reason— a Christmas story that’s sure to hit home for many. However, it comes with a risk. It could change her 10-year-old daughter’s Christmas forever. Right now, Zhuri Nova James still holds on to the magic of Santa Claus—she believes, with all her heart, that Santa is coming to town.

“She still believes Santa be thumping in my house. Santa is the goat at my house,” the millionaire entrepreneur shared in Episode 5 of Season 3. But Savannah, in a moment of heartwarming honesty (the same trait that has made her beloved to fans), found herself walking a fine line regarding bursting Zhuri’s happy bubble.

“I want my kids to believe in Santa till at least 10,” her co-host, April McDaniels, shared. Savannah, for her part, responded, “I think I got some time still.” Clearly, Mrs. James is holding on to the magic as long as she can. But she knows that the day is coming when the truth of the matter will inevitably come out. Just as it did for her all those years ago.

Savannah James recounts heartbreaking childhood discovery of the Santa myth

Learning Santa is not real is pretty much a rite of passage for all of us. And it was no different for Vannah, either. While the experience might have been different for each of us, the emotion was most definitely not. For a young Savannah, it happened when she was not more than 13. Watching the news with her best friend in a neighbor’s house during a snowstorm in Ohio, the local weather report mentioned how it might affect Santa’s ability to make it to Northeast Ohio.

The rest, we will hear it from the woman of the hour, herself. “I am from Ohio. You know likely that it’s going to be a snowstorm around Christmas,” Vannah clarified first. And what was her reaction to the newscaster’s report?

“Bawling! Bawling! I’m like, ‘Santa, he’s not gonna come to my house.’ And they was cracking up at me like, ‘[B__], are you serious?’ And I’m like, ‘But he not gonna come!’ They like, ‘Really?’ I was like, ‘Oh, I was just playing.’ Dead a** though. Like so sad that Santa was not gonna make it to Northeast Ohio,” she recalled.

Although it didn’t sound like it didn’t affect her now as much as it did then, it was clear that the moment was when the magic of Christman ended for Savannah Brinson. It’s a raw, relatable emotion many of us have felt when we learned Santa wasn’t real. And it’s that genuine vulnerability that makes her story hit so close to home.

Vannah’s story captures the bittersweet moment when childhood innocence is replaced by reality. Despite it all, even if Santa is not real, the spirit of Christmas—of family, love, and the memories we create—certainly is. And for Savannah James, that’s a gift she’ll keep giving, even when the wrapping comes off.

For now, hopefully, Zhuri won’t listen to her mom’s podcast. … Or find this article.