November is a month when two major holidays take place — Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. Yet, they are hardly recognized or noticed in today’s culture due to an obsession with “great deals” heading up the Christmas season.

While people like to be prepared in buying gifts for December celebrations, they need to take a step back and realize what each holiday means, and adjust their mindsets this time of year. This is not the time to plan what time to leave on Thanksgiving Day to beat the crowd to the early-bird sales. It is an opportunity to spend time with loved ones and remember how lucky we truly are.

All over the world, and in many places in the United States, people are suffering — sleeping in boxes on the side of the road or wearing shoes with holes in them because they cannot afford anything more.

This is not a guilt trip. It is a reminder.

We should look up to the ceiling of our homes and be thankful for a roof over our heads. We should take a gander at our closets and realize we are privileged to be able to have jobs where we can afford suitable clothing. We should scroll through our phone contacts and think of how wonderful it is to have so many friends and family members we can rely on in hard times.

We should simply be thankful.

Our society sees the word “thanks” in Thanksgiving and, yet, we still have a hard time grasping what the holiday means. We need to chill out and remember why most businesses give their workers this day off — for free time to celebrate thankfulness with family.

So, this Thanksgiving, let’s actually sit for a while with our loved ones and reminiscence on all of the memories we have together.

Hannah Davis is the editor of The Kenbridge-Victoria Dispatch. She can be reached at hannah.davis@kvdispatch.com.