Here is the beginning of a series from 2001, tangentially related to the A&J strips running currently in newspapers and on GoComics. Both series are about long-standing couples and the lives they lived before they met and the stories they tell about those lives. And don’t tell. Actually, I prefer the older treatment. Well, it’s the week of Thanksgiving, and I’m going to give you a preview of coming attractions. Did you know that when Abraham Lincoln proclaimed “Thanksgiving” a more-or-less official federal holiday, it was to be observed on the last Thursday of November? Though acceptance of this directive varied slightly among the states, it generally held true until 1939, when FDR decided Thanksgiving should be observed on the next-to-last Thursday, to give a boost to the Christmas shopping season in a nation still living through the Great Depression. This was done for a while, but it wasn’t universally popular by any means. For one thing, Republican lawmakers felt the Democratic president was “dissing” Honest Abe Lincoln, a fellow Republican. As a result, in 1942, everyone agreed Thanksgiving would be the fourth Thursday in November, which usually is the last Thursday in November, but not always. I think I got that right. Anyway, why is this a preview? I visit this tidbit of history in an upcoming comic strip.