Dear Internet,
Monte died at the homeless shelter. I knew him for 20years. He was doing pretty well for several years. He got married to Lisa, had a family, job, house and then he went back to drinking. Lisa has a corporate job and raised the kids on her own. But Monte went back to drinking and became became a reluctant fixture on Boulders streets. His parents wouldn't have an open funeral for him because they didn't want to have " a bunch of homeless street alcoholics" at his funeral. They didn't want him to become a poster boy some homeless memorial. Monte was a street alcoholic and it was not something his parents wanted honored. It's not what they wanted for their son. His life is not what they had in mind for him. They were ashamed and heart broken by they way he lived and died. Lisa nor the children attended his funeral.
When I would see Monte on Pearl street, I would stop and talk with him for a bit. He told me he couldn't get sober, his health was failing and he was waiting for death. A death of alcoholism.
from Americas most famous small city
Jann Scott
Boulder Colorado
325 days left
1 comment:
FROM E-MAIL:
Jann,
I think that I might have known Monte several years ago. Dark hair, slender, hung out on the Mall west of 9th? If that is him then I would see him on Saturday morning and usually give him a buck or two. He was always quiet and never insistant about money. He always talked about returning to his home. He just dropped out of sight. If this is the same Monte that I knew then I am very sorry to hear of his estrangment from his family and his death. Bill
Bill in Boulder "Engineering as an Art Form!"
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