Letter People

One of my first memories and disappointments that I had when I was younger was finding out that the Letter People were not real.
The Letter People used to be in the classrooms to help kids learn their letters and also learn how to read. You would have Mr. M for munchy mouth, Mr. T for Tall Teeth and so on. Each one would have a background story and a certain personality.
I remember clearly my first time seeing said Letter People. I was in kindergarten and there was a knock at the door. Obviously now I know it was my teacher doing it but at that time my attention turned to the door, when the teacher called out. " Who could that be?" One of the students opened the door and there stood Mr. M.
At that time I was very excited as my first name also started with an M and here was this character standing outside our door with a big M on his chest and a great big smile. We watched a filmstrip after that all about Mr. M's day. How he woke up and ate macaroni for breakfast and did all these things during the day that began with the letter M.
Next came Mr. T and so on. It seemed every couple of days there was a new letter and I used to look forward to seeing a new one come in. It also did not help that PBS had a television program of the Letter People which encouraged my imagination.
Then came that horrible day when I walked into the classroom and underneath the assistants desk was Mr. V and she was using a foot pump to blow him up!! How could this be? Were the Letter People not real? All this time was I being tricked? I sat down at my desk and continued to stare at her foot going back and forth pumping up this inflatable person while pulling down my childish dreams.
After she was done, I saw her put a towel around him and then sneak into an annex of the class. Later that day Mr. V made his appearance.As the door was opened, I fumed inside. I had been lied to all this time. I looked at the Letter People sitting on the counter and noticed for the first time they were all standing still with the same expressions they had when we were first introduced.
I did get over it eventually but never felt the same about the Letter People since.