After I left my hometown of Eureka, CA, I was really bad about keeping up with the people who were most important to me. As I got older, I learned to value these connections more and along with it, a realization of how much better it is catching up with people in person. While we’re all connected via social media, it’s a false perception. Texting doesn’t come close to hearing people’s voices, seeing their faces, and hearing their stories.
Back in early 2017 or so, I reached out to Tahni Smith, someone who I’d contacted a few times over the years, but whom I hadn’t seen in decades. As it turned out, she was living in San Fransisco and was free when I’d be driving through. She agreed to meet me for lunch. We met up at Beach Chalet Brewery and Restaurant. She was running late, so I took a seat at the bar upstairs and waited, getting progressively more nervous. What if we had nothing in common? What if she decided that she didn’t like who I’d become? All the awkward forethought that comes with social anxiety. But the second I saw her and heard her laugh, it was like taking a time machine back to 1989 or so.
Since that meeting, I’ve endeavored to see as many old friends as possible. Trying to do so in person. Each and every one has been the same way- hearing a person’s laugh is like a gateway into good times bygone.
Here are a few “Eureka folks” I’ve met up with over the years:
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| While the photo above is not from that time period, Tahni Smith was the person who kick started my “see old friends” endeavor. She ended up moving to LA a few years later and has become my best friend. We have gone on several trips to meet up with old friends together. | Tahni told me that Dave Stockly sometimes came to visit, so I got his number from her. In September of 2017, I took a road trip with the expressed purpose of visiting old friends. Dave was stop number one. | Met up with Stephanie Wahlund on the Bend leg of the road trip. Needed to repair that friendship a bit and so happy that we did. Have been lucky enough to see her a few more times over the years. |
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| The Eureka stop on the road trip brought me dinner with Rocky Shaw. He’s one of the people I kept up with all these years (he attended my wedding), but it’s still always a pleasure to see him. | I made a stop in San Fransisco and had dinner with Aana Brenman! Have also been lucky enough to see her a few times since. | Ethan Marak lives near me, but we seem to only see each other when Dylan Taffe comes to town. There have been three or four such visits (and I have been up to D’s once. I am a bad friend). |
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| This picture is from 2018, but I’ve been lucky to see Terra Tucker (and Morgan, not pictured) a couple times while swinging through Garberville. I officiated their wedding! | In a total happenstance, my family was up visiting ex-neighbors who were staying with their sister-in-law. During conversation it came up that I grew up in Eureka and they mentioned having a nearby friend named Chad. 10 minutes later, Chad Casper appeared! | Jason McGuire moved to LA in the 90’s and we’ve kept up ever since. Mike Bradley has been to town a few times (and I visited him in Portland once). |
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| Another Dylan Taffe visit. Is it cheating mentioning him twice? Yes. | April 2022 I had coffee with Andy Asp (Fortuna) and Chris Appelgren (Southern Humboldt). While not technically people I know from Eureka, I’m counting them. | Laurel DeLong regularly comes to Long Beach to visit family. Tahni and I have met her for food three times. Talk about a memorable laugh. |
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| Hugo Romero lives in Colorado. I flew out to visit him once and then we met up again when my family did a road trip out to Denver. | Bill & Marge Crichton came to visit August of ’22. I had once met up with them at a NASCAR event in Fontana some decades back. We’d also visited with them in Eureka when my daughter was young. Pictured here with my wife, Sylvia, and Tahni. | I reconnected with Ceci Walker at Moishe’s funeral. She’s visited a couple times now (this picture from 2022) and I am long overdue to reciprocate. |
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| Beth Wengred and I kept up for a while after school- we visited each other a couple times. More recently we’ve had lunch up in Fresno three or so times. | Listing Dave Stockly again because Tahni and I drove up to visit him in October of 2022 and he taught me how to drive a golf ball. | Tahni and I went down to San Clemente to visit Corinne Naughton in 2023 (and are planning to do it again this weekend!). We had a blast being driven around town in a golf cart. |
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| Kari White met up with me for brunch in Oceanside (September 2023) when I was down there for a friend’s art show. We were supposed to meet up for dinner with Jason and Josh, but illness got in the way. Plan on making it up this Summer. | Josh Emmons also moved locally a while back and we’re remained close. The latest being the he, Jason, and I go on hikes. The picture above is from September 2023, when we’d just summited San Gorgonio, the highest peak in southern California. | Anton Pardoe is someone I should have kept up with. We both went to college in LA and have a lot in common, but for whatever reason drifted apart. I was able to track him down on LinkedIn in 2023 and we’ve since had dinner a few times. Overdue at this point. |
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| Steve Marshall came to town in 2025 and we were able to have dinner. His friend, Alan, is someone I almost certainly met through work decade ago. It’s a small world. | Spencer Daniels was in town February 2026 performing as part of the famed Mortified show. He performance was great, our visit unfortunately short. Another re-connect from Moishe’s memorial, I’ve been lucky to keep up with him via text for the last ten years or so. |
I now have 48 people in my contacts who are from my Eureka past. It’s a list that keeps growing, luckily. I’m considering another road trip in the Spring to see a few more in person. Looking forward to it!