New Year's Eve Times Square: the first experience

this was last year's trip. probably one of the craziest, most epic experiences of my life. i was planning to use this as an app essay, but I guess not :)
anyway. happy reading

“Don’t come. It’s so crowded there’s no room!” With that, my grandmother left, leaving my parents and me frozen in shock.

It was New Year’s Eve, three hours until midnight.

“If they don’t want us at their dinner, we’ll make our own New Year’s dinner.”

Even so, I still had an unshakeable feeling of loneliness. I looked forlornly at the television, at the millions celebrating in New York…

“New York City? You can’t get there. Everything will be blocked.

“You can’t find parking now.

“You can’t make it in time.”

“There’s nothing to lose.” My mom and I left. The clock was ticking.

10:30. “What if Lincoln Tunnel really is closed?”

It was dark and ominously silent. The only thing we could see was the pale stretch of asphalt before our lonely headlights. I saw the panic in her eyes, and felt it within myself.

11:00. The car burst out the other end of the Lincoln Tunnel. The city was alive with celebration, flooded by a wash of rainbow colors. It seemed like half the world was out on the streets.

 11:12. “This is too good. How can I be so lucky to find a spot so big, right now?”

I already had one foot in the slushy snow. The car was sitting indecisively on 49^th Street. Times Square was just seven blocks away. “Just park! We can’t miss this!”

11:45. “Sorry. This area is closed,” the NYPD told us at 49^th. And 48^th. And 47^th. The closer we got to 42^nd, to the heart of it all, the more blocked it became. Persistently, I headed uptown. There has to be an open street somewhere.

11:50. “Quick! It’s open!”

I grabbed my mom, jammed into the crowd, and swarmed through the open roadblock.

“Ten minutes!” My voice was lost in the screaming masses.

“I don’t know if we can make it!”

“We’re going to!”

11:55. “There’s a gap here.”

I squeezed through and grabbed the cold metal railing that separated me from the center of Times Square. I could see the one million, freezing, cheering, and ecstatic beyond belief. Just like me.

11:59. One million voices rose into the air. 60. 59. 58… I added mine, declaring the numbers loud and clear.

31. 30… The railing opened. I joined the hundreds who were rushing towards the moment where it all counted.

22. 21. 20… The numbers left my lips in elated screams. I was vibrating with excitement.

10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1! The clock struck twelve as a million voices filled the winter air in one deafening chorus: Happy New Year! A shower of confetti exploded from the heavens. A golden bubble of bliss descended upon New York City.

1:00. The headlights glowed brilliantly, one star among hundreds along the glowing streets. I looked out into the clear night sky, at the millions of celebrating people, the almost tangible promise of possibility. One billboard caught my eye. Bright, simplistic, unmistakable, three words: Go for it.