What I Am Thankful For

By Scott Raychel

'MMURCA!

Every year, families get together to celebrate Thanksgiving and have as much turkey, stuffing, green beans, green bean casserole, pie, cornbread, and various other delicious treats nobody really has the rest of the year, save for a few exceptions like Christmas. My family is no different. We celebrated the tradition just as everyone else did. Families change and grow and go their separate ways but it’s always tradition that ends up bringing them back together for a few times a year.

I moved out to live on my own around a year and a half ago, currently living in the second house I’ve ever lived on my own at. Being in college and having a job that barely pays the bills can leave anyone desperate for a cheap meal, and with nobody around to prevent you from encountering the dangers of overly-processed yet overly-delicious fast food, it’s only a matter of time before the warm, artery-clogging embrace of Ronald McDonald and the Burger King seems like a pretty enticing idea. It’s one of the characteristics of growing up in middle of the American dream, but as I have found beyond the burrito wrappers and giant plastic cups that currently cover the floor of my car, there’s still nothing like the prospect of a homemade meal made by someone you love and served up on a hot plate instead of a crinkly piece of paper.

I started going to local shows when I was 18, right before I graduated from high school. I made friends with people from all kinds of backgrounds: Christian, atheist, home schooled, high schooled, young, not-so-young, punks, nerds, regular kids, straight-edge, pot heads, barflies, misfits, outcasts and everything in between. It was, and still is, a forever-changing, ever-growing community of people who look out for each other. Some would even dare to call it a family.

Then sometime in the last couple years, Stephen and Margie Zumbrun, two of the co-founders of Piradical Productions, the all-ages booking company that helped to create this family, which makes up a small portion of the Indianapolis music scene, declared every Tuesday would play host to Community Meals. It was a chance for all of their friends and newcomers to visit their house, share some food and stay in touch with each other on a regular basis. At first, the Zumbruns would cook food, normally spaghetti or chili, for everyone, but after some time, it was decided Community Meals would be split up to different houses within this community, and that every Community Meal would from now on be a potluck. The regular attendees of the weekly event pulled through and delivered, making food for each other rather than one making food for all. The sense of community and the sense of family had been strengthened.

When I asked my friends to share any Thanksgiving recipes they have, which was the original idea for this article, I got this response from my friend John Silva, lead singer of local party punk group Trip N Balls:

“I don’t cook. I put boxed dinners into the microwave and press ‘Start.’ This is the 21^st century, dude. People don’t do ‘recipes.’”
-John Silva, November 2011

The Breakfast of Champions

Although the last part of the statement isn’t entirely true, being a fan of Easy Mac and cans of Chef Boyardee Spaghetti and Meatballs, I can’t say I would disagree with it. After constantly eating out for most of my meals, I have recently made a conscious decision to lay off food coming from any place with a drive-thru window in favor of frequenting the local Kroger more often and preparing my own meals. I’ve always liked cooking, but never really did enough of it. During my fast food streak, I visited my mom for dinner on a normal Sunday night, where she made meatloaf and scalloped potatoes. It was food I’ve had numerous times while I lived with her, but in the midst of the pizza-burger-burrito binge that is my college career, that meatloaf tasted like some of the best food I’ve ever had in my life. Nothing beats mom’s homemade cookin’!

But I’ve definitely had meals come close to it, and most of them came from these weekly Community Meals. They don’t always do the trick, but they’re definitely satisfying enough. For me, it’s not just the fact that I didn’t have to yell at a speaker box to get food, it’s the fact that someone took the time to prepare a meal with extra love and care for their friends, the people they sometimes choose to call a family. It’s a welcome relief from counting coins left on my nightstand in the hopes there’s enough for a couple tacos, and makes me happy I have something better to hold me over until the next meal I share with my actual family.

Stemming from the idea of Community Meals is the annual Pirad Thanksgiving Meal. After everyone has spent time with their own families, they get the chance to hang out with their second family for a second day of feasting and thanks. This ends up bringing the most food of any Community Meal, and it always makes for a good time. I will definitely be attending this year, just as I’ve done the last several years, because in the oasis that is the hustle and bustle and the mind-numbing monotony of daily living, having the opportunity to share a real meal with those closest to me helps me realize exactly what I am thankful for: family.

What Pirad Thaksgiving Looks Like