Am I the only one?

As I was writing a story, I started to wonder how many people had imaginary friends as a kid, and how many of them still have them as they grow up.
What the internet mostly has to say about imaginary friends is ghost stories, as if they're all a sign someone is haunted and might die in a paranormal experience, but... It's not really like that. Not for me, at least. As long as I can remember, I'd talk to fictional characters as if they were my friends. And I dare say it's thanks to that I survived growing up. Have you ever done this? I'd like to find more people who view imaginary friends positively. No more weird looks or pauses when I tell them this.

Tl;dr: been reading since young, fertile imagination, befriending fictional characters. Who else did this?