In 2006, I went to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, an annual three hour parade held in New York City. The day before, I watched the balloons being blown up around the side streets of the American Museum of Natural History.

The next day, for the actual parade, I was fortunate enough to not have to sit in the cold and the rain, but up in an office building of a family friend overlooking the parade route. The Snoopy and Garfield balloons were at eye level. Julie Andrews waved to my little brother. It was a pretty satisfying day.

This year, I looked forward to watching the parade on T.V. from my living room couch. I was disappointed when I heard CBS pulled the cast of the popular Fox show “Glee” from the program because the show airs on a rival network. Viewers instead watched performances from artists such as Bello, Andrea Bocelli, Keke Palmer, Grandma and the cast of the “Big Apple Circus”, the cast of “Hair”, “Boys Like Girls” and many many more.

It’s not the parade itself that I enjoy so much. It isn’t the artists who perform or the colorful balloons that afloat overhead, (most of them are children’s characters) either. What I enjoy the most is the atmosphere. I love New York City. It’s as simple as that. I was born there, which is why I think I am drawn to the city’s enticing cloud of constant movement.

Probably even more important is the fact that this one parade not only ushers in Black Friday, but it ushers in the holiday season, a season that emphasizes family togetherness and good eats. At the end of the parade, Santa rides through on a horse drawn sleigh, a signal that the holidays are just around the corner.

So on Thursday, at noon, when the parade was over, I got up from the couch with a smile, like I always do at this time of year. I thought of how lucky I am as a teenager on the planet Earth.

Most of the time, rain or shine, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will go on. You can count on it. It is a pleasant, genuine reminder that hopefully a time of peace and togetherness is only a month away. You can count on it to let you know that a happier time will come, even if that AP World test is the only thing you’re worrying about right now.