Thanksgiving morning tradition - THE MACY'S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE! I have never missed one in my entire life (and I am not a child). Every Thanksgiving morning, while my Mom and Grandmother bustled around the kitchen, I sat glued to the television watching the Parade sparkle through Manhattan and round the corner in front of Macy's. The bands, Rockettes, balloons, the performances from Broadway Musicals and the best of the best - the parade always ended as Santa Claus, in his sleigh, rode down Broadway waving. I would call out to my Grandmother - "Nana! Look !" She would respond, ooo and ahhhh...My eyes would tear as I watched Santa approach...oh how I believe(d)
During High School, I did miss four parades. I was a baton twirler and our final football game against our arch rival - Passaic Valley was held on Thanksgiving morning. That was before days of "recording" television shows to enjoy later.
When my children were young, with their Dad, we would watch while enjoying breakfast. My Mom still made Thanksgiving Dinner, so we could spend the time together watching, until we got ready and went to my parents' house. When Santa pulled up the rear, yes, my eyes teared.
Todd phoned me from his home in Zanesville, Ohio. His Mom (my daughter) was bustling around her own kitchen preparing for the holiday with her in-laws. I sat on my couch, in Kettering, Ohio, 132 miles from them tuning in the Parade when my phone twinkled (Ring Tone sounds like Tinkerbell coming in for a landing). "Hello?" Twelve year old Todd: "Hey! Meme (may may), it's Thanksgiving! Are you watching the parade? I'm sitting in the living room and the parade came on the television. I don't know where the kids are (his sister and brother, 11 and 8 years old respectively), wanna watch with me?" I said I would love to! With no heads blocking our view, I knew he could see...so: "Are you comfortable?" sounded logical. "Yep, Meme! How about you?" Not to disturb the announcing and music, we texted for three hours as each performer, band, group, character, balloon came into view and clowns tumbled across the screen. We commented on the patter of the announcers, trivia, facts. I am not wild about the red power ranger, how about that, Felix was the first balloon, here's Elmo, I don't like that song and what in the world is she wearing! During commercials, we would grab a snack, something to drink, rehash what we had seen, speaking on our phones.
Commercial break...and then...
Finally, after three hours, as noon came upon us, there he was...Santa Claus with Mrs. Claus! They sat majestically in the sleigh! They waved, he repeatedly said: "Merry Christmas!" and there followed a few Ho-Ho-Ho's! "Todd! Do you see? Here comes Santa!" Todd: "Meme! This is so exciting! I'm so glad that we watched together!" I replied that I would never have it any other way! "Meme! He's looking right at us!" (Santa caught the camera angle perfectly) "Todd, I know, I know! Oh my! I do believe, I do believe!" Todd: "Meme! Happy Thanksgiving! I love you! We;ll see you the day after tomorrow for our Thanksgiving, But, we watched the best thing together! That was all we need! To be together and have fun, sitting on our couches." Me: "Yes, Todd, watching together and sharing the first look at Santa for the season!" As usual, I became weepy. All of the years past and I wanted to believe with Todd, now, Do you think he does?
Who would have thought, we watched the parade together and were very comfortable!
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