Happy Thanksgiving 2025! This is when we take a welcome moment to pause, reflect, and reconnect. Whether you celebrate with a traditional family gathering, a lively Friendsgiving dinner, or a quiet meal at home, this holiday offers a powerful reminder: gratitude is not a once-a-year activity. It is a mindset that transforms how we experience both our daily lives and our increasingly digital world.
As we enter the 2025 holiday season, many of us continue to live in two parallel worlds: both our IRL (In-Real-Life) world, with all its people and places, and our online environment, filled with information, opportunities, and communities. Both deserve recognition. Thanksgiving is an ideal time to acknowledge the tools, technologies, and human connections that make our lives better every single day.
This article explores the meaning of Thanksgiving with family, the rise of Friendsgiving, and an appreciation of everyday blessings—both online and “IRL.” You’ll also find fun and helpful online resources worth being thankful for, complete with direct URLs you can explore.
Thanksgiving With Family: A Tradition Rooted in Connection
When most people think of Thanksgiving, the image of a family gathering around a table naturally comes to mind. While every family’s traditions differ, the central theme remains connection. For many, Happy Thanksgiving 2025 represents an opportunity to reunite with loved ones, revisit cherished recipes, and savor the comfort of shared memories.
Thanksgiving meals often include dishes passed down through generations—such as turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and desserts that evoke fond memories of childhood. Family gatherings ground us, reminding us of where we come from and the values that help us navigate life. These annual rituals create a rhythm that carries meaning from one year to the next.
But Thanksgiving isn’t only about food. It is also about storytelling. Catching up with relatives, celebrating victories from the past year, and offering support through any hardships. It is about putting relationships first. At its core, Thanksgiving serves as a poignant reminder that even in a fast-paced world, family time remains essential.
Friendsgiving 2025: A Modern Celebration of Chosen Family
Over the past decade, Friendsgiving has grown from a quirky gathering to a mainstream cultural event. Friendsgiving allows people to celebrate the holiday with the friends who play essential roles in their lives—especially when they live far from family or prefer a more relaxed, informal celebration.
What makes Friendsgiving unique is its flexibility. Friends often split cooking duties, embrace potluck-style dinners, host themed gatherings, or adapt recipes to fit different dietary preferences. It is a celebration rooted in inclusiveness, creativity, and laughter.
In 2025, Friendsgiving has become even more meaningful as work schedules, travel costs, and geographic mobility lead many people to form close “chosen families” wherever they live. These relationships also deserve grateful recognition. For some, Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving are now celebrated together, creating a whole holiday weekend focused on community.
Everyday Things to Be Thankful For
One of the healthiest parts of Thanksgiving is its emphasis on gratitude. While the holiday encourages us to acknowledge major blessings, such as family, health, and livelihood, it also highlights the more minor, daily things that often go unnoticed.
IRL (In Real Life) Blessings We Should Appreciate:
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A warm home, especially during the Wisconsin winter months.
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A steady job or fulfilling work, something not everyone enjoys.
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Access to healthy food is a simple but essential privilege.
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Time outdoors, whether through walking, gardening, RVing, or exploring local parks.
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Books and libraries that offer lifelong learning.
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Community organizations, such as Veterans’, youth, sports, and religious organizations, among many others, bring people together.
These everyday experiences often feel routine, but they form the foundation of a fulfilling life.
Online Blessings to Be Grateful For in 2025
Our online world is a second home—and while it’s easy to focus on the negatives, there is also plenty to be grateful for. The internet helps people learn, do business, stay connected, and find inspiration.
Here are useful online resources worth celebrating this Thanksgiving, each included with its direct URL for your reference:
1. Wikipedia – Free Knowledge for All
A global library, freely accessible and crowdsourced, supporting learning and curiosity across every subject imaginable.
2. Internet Archive – Preserving Books, Music, and Websites
A remarkable digital time machine with millions of free books, recordings, and archived web pages.
3. Khan Academy – Free Education for Everyone
From math to science to economics, free learning tools empower students and adults to learn at their own pace.
4. YouTube Learning – Tutorials for Any Skill
Whether you need to fix a faucet, learn woodworking, or master digital marketing, free video learning is a gift.
5. Canva – Easy Online Design Tools
An intuitive platform to create beautiful images, presentations, and social graphics—even with no design experience.
6. WordPress – Powering Small Businesses and Creators
This open-source platform powers more than a third of the web, including blogs, small businesses, and e-commerce sites.
7. Good News Network – A Reminder of Positivity
In a world full of stress, this site highlights kindness, innovation, and uplifting stories from around the globe.
8. AllTrails – Encouraging People to Explore Nature
A simple app that helps users find hiking, biking, and walking trails, making outdoor adventures more accessible.
9. Zoom – Bringing People Together Anywhere
Many families now share virtual Thanksgiving greetings across states and countries thanks to accessible online video calls.
10. Local News, Blogs, and Community Websites
Neighborhood-level information—like Wisconsin events, manufacturing news, or small business profiles—helps strengthen local communities online.
Together, these digital resources support education, creativity, entrepreneurship, and human connection. For many, they expand opportunities that previously depended on geography or financial limitations.
A Holiday Message for a Happy Thanksgiving 2025
As we celebrate Happy Thanksgiving 2025, let’s take time to appreciate the blend of tradition and modernity that shapes our lives. Whether you spend Thanksgiving with family, Friendsgiving groups, or a thoughtful day of personal reflection, the holiday highlights a simple but powerful truth: gratitude strengthens relationships, improves well-being, and creates a positive outlook that lasts long after the holiday ends.
Take a moment today to acknowledge the people who support you, the food on your table, the opportunities you enjoy, and the technologies that make learning, creativity, and connection possible. Gratitude is one of life’s most significant renewable resources.
Happy Thanksgiving 2025—and may your season be filled with warmth, connection, and appreciation both online and IRL.
Happy Thanksgiving 2025! We heartily welcome and invite you to copy and use the content above with attribution by including this paragraph and a live link back to this post at https://www.wisx.com/happy-thanksgiving-2025-irl-online/.
Regards,
Keith Klein
Founder & CEO
OnYourMark.com LLC
Thanks also to Mark Mullarky at Great Lakes Tech Services for sharing!
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