It is time for Thanksgiving. However, nothing would suggest that except the weather and the abundance of ready to cook turkeys at the grocery store.

Some might complain that we put too much importance on a “holiday for food,” but if we choose to call Thanksgiving that then the same people would have to call Christmas just a “holiday for opening presents,” which it is not.

I have never heard anyone complain that Sacramento State gets Christmas vacation. Even the people who don’t celebrate Christmas still welcome the break. As soon as Halloween is over stores around the nation are packing up decorations of bats and jack-o-lanterns to stock on Christmas season goodies.

I still hold to the fact that we need Thanksgiving off. Having a break in the middle of the semester does a lot for morale on campus. Much like Spring Break does, having a couple of days off gives everyone a time for relaxing and refreshing and a time to think about things other than school.

In a world where everyone is busy and family members don’t see each other for days even though they live in the same house, the Thanksgiving holiday increases the chances of families actually spending time together by sitting down at the same time to enjoy a meal.

Thanksgiving is a time for everyone to be thankful, but is often lost in the must have sales and Christmas music. Thanksgiving will be different this year for my family. We’re still having turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy and green bean casserole, but this one will be the first Thanksgiving after my dad passed away.

The first Thanksgiving without a loved one is always hard, but it also leaves many opportunities to be thankful for what we do have, like a roof over our head, food to eat, the table to eat on and the family and friends gathered around to spend the day together.

I think it is finally time to ignore the holiday sales and take sometime to be thankful for what we do have before we ever say please while writing our Christmas lists.