the christmas parade

So the next day at work I knew I needed to toughen up and get an acceptable story going, one that was appealing to the New York audience and I had the perfect idea. I ran it by my boss and co-worker and it was solemnly approved! There was a parade happening this week and I was going to attend it! And what a way to find out the general spirit of Christmas and what would entertain the attendees. Who knows, I could ask a few questions about the parade and the general spirit of excitement, the festivity was just before Christmas so naturally there would be anticipation and looking forward to the great morning! I walked up to a young lady and her two kids, as they sat along the edges of the parade. “Hi, im a journalist covering the story of the parade,” I said and she let me interview her. “Oh, yes,” she says. “I love all the beautiful costumes, santa and his reindeer, I mean, it just adds to the whole effect of the parade on Christmas.” And of all the things she said, what she pointed out to me was how all of this is just so important to the kids. "That’s why we're here," she said, "because it just adds to the celebration of Christmas for them, makes it real to them and is something to have to celebrate and look forward to Christmas morning." You see to her, it's not just the materialism itself that makes Christmas so magical and fun, but life would be dull," she said, "if there weren’t people and children to share it with, to see their excitement and fulfillment in experiencing it is so heart warming." I thought this was amazing. So it's not like its all about the fashion and the show here, but New York cares about how it benefits them, what touches their heart and this time, it was about all the fun for the kids, something near and dear to their hearts. At that moment, Santa came rolling by AND YELLED A MERRY CHRISTMAS to all the children at this end of the parade. You see, the parade ended, but not the anticipation, no, that lived on, until Christmas morning. When I told Julie about it at work, she was completely attentive, looking me in the eye with a smile on her face, saying, now you have hit the mark! And so the article was all about that, thanks to the lady at the parade. She opened my eyes and I could see life was all about that, materialism, yes, but a relationship with someone that was accentuated by seeing all their dreams come true. And how could that ever happen without showering kids with the material things that come out of the pockets of their moms and dads! And she was right, how could one enjoy the season without the joy seen on children’s faces when they come to the parade and do things like this!