A Memory by Tammy Stampfli

A Memory by Tammy Stampfli

My father-in-law Wurb Stampfli loved trains. As a child he used to ride the milk-run train in Greenville as often as possible. He knew an engineer who would take him along. Several times over the years the family rode with him on the Steam Train from Ft. Bragg to Willits. I can remember rounding tree-covered corners holding my toddler son in my lap, while steam rose up in great bursts.

He spent his entire adult life in Napa as a fire fighter for the city and was very excited when the Wine Train opened. He rode with the engineer as often as he had the opportunity and took all of his out-of-town guests on the Wine Train for dinner. Being a good Baptist, he really wasn’t much into the wine, but he loved the train.

In August of 2005 Wurb bought the whole family tickets for the wine train. We flew in from Washington State and drove in from Oregon. Eight months earlier he had been diagnosed with cancer, already at stage four. That morning before our ride, I drove with him to The Queen of the Valley [medical center] for his radiation treatment. He was already in a great deal of pain. We drove to the wine train and boarded. We had a lovely time as a family, enjoying incredible food and wonderful wines. Kind servers cared for us, and the day was beautiful and bright. He ate almost nothing, but this was an experience he wanted all of us to have.

He passed away six weeks later. The picture of all of us in front of the train graces a book shelf reminding us of this last lovely experience we shared together as a family. Thank you Napa Wine Train.