The day after Halloween, I was driving through my neighborhood and saw a man putting up his Christmas lights. I could not have been more disappointed.

Every year, people and stores jump straight from spooky season to Christmas cheer while skipping right over the best holiday, Thanksgiving.

I love Thanksgiving for many reasons: the food, parades, Turkey Trots and football, but most of all spending time with friends that have become family.

Others disagree.

Thomas Elder, a senior, said that his favorite parts of Thanksgiving are “football, friends, and family.” 

He spends every year with his family and enjoys this time they get to share.

Similarly, junior Lexi Southivong spoke about her Thanksgiving traditions with family.

“We usually get together with all my siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles. We eat food, then if weather permits, we will go outside and toss a football around between all the cousins. We get competitive with a lot of games and it’s fun,” said Southivong.

However, there are many other students that disagree and are already listening to their Christmas music.

Sophomore Kayla Seidenstricker is a fan of Christmas because she believes it has “more celebration and festivities.”

While I enjoy these aspects of Christmas and the long break from school, part of the reason that I enjoy Thanksgiving more is because the true meaning of Christmas gets lost in all of the presents and celebrations. Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy because Jesus was born. I find that many people do not recognize this anymore.

Elder also holds these views.

He said, “[Christmas]  becomes too much about ourselves and not about God.”

The true meaning of a Thanksgiving feast, I find, cannot be lost. Enjoying a dinner where everyone pitches in carries the message that the Pilgrims and Native Americans started: that we can all share and help one another. The time spent with family and friends also relays a second message that the first Thanksgiving had, that we should be thankful for the people and things we have in our lives. This is the real reason why Thanksgiving is better than Christmas.