Thanksgiving is a holiday where we reflect and give thanks for everything we have in life. A lot of people, myself included, look forward to all the food that is usually prepared for dinner on that day.

I did attend the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade a couple of years back, and it was certainly an experience. People started standing around the barricade three or four hours before the parade was scheduled to start. It was nice to have the experience of seeing it in person and then rushing back to be with my family.

Thanksgiving in my house usually includes watching the parade on television, because actually going is a hassle. My mom prepares lasagna instead of turkey because none of us like turkey in my house, and it’s just the three of us giving thanks and eating as much as we can. All of my extended family lives in the Dominican Republic, so we never have anyone over, which just means more food for us.

This year, I will be spending Thanksgiving with my best friend and her family out in the sticks of Columbus, Ohio. There, Thanksgiving dinner will be very different from the one I am used to. They will have a huge turkey, a bunch of appetizers and they eat around 1 p.m. We will go Black Friday shopping and I will spend all of the money in my bank account.

From what I have encountered, Thanksgiving in the Midwest means spending it surrounded by family and friends around a dinner table full of too much food and just taking a moment to look around and be grateful for the lives that we have and the food in front of us.

My best friend and her family have embraced me as one of their own, and for that I will forever be grateful. Another person that has been generous to me is my roommate and her family. They are there whenever and wherever I need them to be.

It is important to also be generous. It is important that we take time out of our days around this important holiday to give back to the community, whether we make a hot meal for someone or volunteer at a local shelter, in order to give others the same privileges we have. Every so often, my family and I clean out our closets and donate our clothes to Goodwill, or we send it back to the Dominican Republic to be given to those who need it most.

There is an old saying that “whatever goes around comes around,” and that is what being thankful and generous is all about. Thanksgiving is one day a year, but as members of society, we must be thankful and generous all 365 days of the year.