I’m writing this article about Thanksgiving traditions, and I’m dedicating it to my mother-in-law, Ottie Franklin. She had five children, multiple grandchildren, and even more multiples of great grandchildren. And she knew how to make each one feel special.
Ottie wasn’t John’s birth mother, but she mothered him like her own. His mother, Sue, was Ottie’s best friend, and she passed away in 2004. Billy and Ottie married in 2005, and she mothered him up until her death in 2023. Ottie’s large brood has a fun holiday tradition I’d like to share.
When her kids married off and began their families, they made an agreement to alternate Thanksgiving and Christmas. They celebrate both holidays during their time together, and call it Thankmas. It’s a clever way to gather a large group of people together during the busiest time of the year. They eat a lot of food, play a table full of games, put together a mountain of jigsaw puzzles, and get a jump on Christmas by opening all their gifts. And everyone (theoretically) eats just a little bit less, because they’ve condensed two holiday meals into one. My friend Regina’s parents are divorced and remarried, and so are her husband’s. She slips into her stretchy pants the week of Thanksgiving and stays in them until the new year, as she celebrates four Thanksgivings and four Christmases. She’d have loved Thankmas, and her waistline would have cheered.
This year, Nathan and Kat are getting married the Saturday before Thanksgiving. We come home for two days, then hop back on the road for Thanksgiving with our kids in San Antonio. Our annual Goar family reunion is in San Antonio this time, so it made sense to gather early and celebrate Thanksgiving on the road.
The kids plan to spend Christmas with their wives’ families, and John asked if I wanted to start a Thankmas tradition this year. I replied, “Nathan and Kat have enough on their plates, getting married five days before Thanksgiving. If I asked to pile Christmas shopping on top of all that, they might boycott holidays with us entirely.” I’m hoping we’ll have another year of Operation Christmas Spirit. Ah, but that’s a story for December.
Regardless of how you celebrate this Thanksgiving, I hope you have a safe and peaceful holiday.
Jann Goar Franklin graduated Russellville High School in 1985 and lives in Grand Cane, Louisiana. She also writes books, which are for sale at www.jannfranklin.com. You can reach her at jann@jannfranklin.com