Completely Numb
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (86999)
United States
July 23, 2022 8:51pm CST
Today was supposed to be a great day spent at the Putt Putt course in northern Kentucky. I hadn’t been to a tournament all year, so I was going to get to see the guys. They are my brothers from different mothers, because I’ve spent the last 22 summers with them. I’d enjoy watching them play, and we’d have a blast.
In a word, no.
When I got to the course I couldn’t drive up the hill. The way was blocked by a fire truck. I could see an ambulance behind it. The players were walking around course 1, NOT the course we play, all looking stunned. I figured that someone had practiced in the heat too much on Friday and had passed out. No.
One of the pros met me and pointed to a parking spot on the side of the driveway. When I parked he said somberly, “Monte passed away.”
Add me to the stunned list.
“They found him in the restroom,” the player went on to explain. “We think he had a heart attack.”
Apparently Monte hadn’t been feeling well for a couple of weeks, but he played in the heat in Fort Wayne, then played in the heat practicing yesterday.
The EMTs were able to restart the heart with the defibrillator, but about an hour later we got the news from the hospital that we suspected we’d get.
We all agreed that Monte would have wanted the game to go on, and even a couple of us said that, should something happen to us during a tournament, just kick us out of the way and keep going, or make us a new obstacle on the hole.
Tomorrow the game will go on, but missing a gigantic hole in our lives occupied by a man of such short stature (he was about 5’2”). Always gracious, always smiling, always a winner no matter where he finished in the tournament.
I’m completely numb.
Rest In Peace, Monte. Thank you for being part of my life.
16 people like this
17 responses
@thislittlepennyearns (68274)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
24 Jul 22
I was reading your posts trying to see why you were absent today. I am a little shocked to see this.
I am so sorry for your loss.
Hugs.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (86999)
• United States
24 Jul 22
Thank you. I sent a text to the tour director to ask how everyone was doing, comparatively speaking. He said everyone is still in a state of shock.
Every time I think I’m a little better something will happen. One guy just posted Monte’s final scorecard in the group on Facebook. I started crying again. I’m glad I was there to have them to cry with.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (86999)
• United States
24 Jul 22
@thislittlepennyearns — I know there are lots of tears, but it’s part of the “healing” process. As they play, they’ll think about something Monte did or said when he missed an easy hole or got a lucky bounce on a difficult hole and will smile. Part of the healing process. But dang, it hurts.
@thislittlepennyearns (68274)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
24 Jul 22
@FourWalls I can imagine.
This heat this year has been no joke.
Still sad.
I'm glad you were there for them to cry with as well.
2 people like this
@much2say (57760)
• Los Angeles, California
29 Jul 22
@FourWalls It really does become family. I am glad you can all be there for each other in support in the best of times and during difficult times - that is what family does 
.
.1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (174879)
• United States
24 Jul 22
You and your "brothers" have my sincere condolences.
2 people like this
@wolfgirl569 (136167)
• Marion, Ohio
24 Jul 22
So sorry. He was doing something he enjoyed doing. I cant think of a better time to go.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (86999)
• United States
24 Jul 22
You’re absolutely right. He went exactly where he wanted to go: doing what he loved, surrounded by his family (his brother was at the tournament with him) and his friends.
I think about that line in Arthur where he was sneaking food into the hospital for Hobson and said, “I don’t want his last meal to be jello.” Or the Jimmy Buffett line, “I’d rather die while I’m living.” In the “natural order of things” most of us are looking at a hospital or nursing home, not living our lives to the fullest to the last second.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (136167)
• Marion, Ohio
25 Jul 22
@FourWalls Glad his brother was there. That can help family feel better.
That is what happens most of the time. We are just laying in bed waiting for the end.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86999)
• United States
24 Jul 22
Thank you. Not my physical brother, but a brother in every regard.
1 person likes this
@RubyHawk (99367)
• Atlanta, Georgia
24 Jul 22
@FourWalls And that’s what matters.
1 person likes this
@misunderstood_zombie (8765)
• United States
24 Jul 22
I'm sorry that you lost your friend. After 22 years that really is a big hole, missing him.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (86999)
• United States
24 Jul 22
We certainly do miss him. I hope they name the tournament today in his memory. It’s one way to keep him always with us. We have another “memorial,” the Bill Hammonds, that I’ve been blessed to win three times. Bill meant the world to me when I just started playing the game, and to have plaques with his name and my name on them is a blessing.
1 person likes this
@misunderstood_zombie (8765)
• United States
26 Jul 22
@FourWalls I think that's a nice idea, and his memory will be honored.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (51849)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
24 Jul 22
Well, that's no way to start your day. Sorry for your loss.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86999)
• United States
24 Jul 22
Shocks like this happen in everybody’s life. And, oh, is it a shock.
Thank you for your sweet words.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (209335)
• United States
24 Jul 22
So sorry about the loss of Monte. Some people are just irreplaceable in our lives.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86999)
• United States
25 Jul 22
We are a tour full of crazed individuals. We’d make a good sitcom…seriously! The nicknames alone would be worth the price of admission.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86999)
• United States
27 Jul 22
Thank you for your sweet condolences.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86999)
• United States
24 Jul 22
Thank you. Miniature golf is an international sport, so this is being felt outside of our little corner of the world. There’s a woman from the Czech Republic who comes to America to play in our major miniature golf tournaments every year, so she knows Monte well.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (503001)
• Italy
24 Jul 22
@FourWalls I loved to play Miniature golf I joined some competitions in Italy when I was young.
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (98215)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
24 Jul 22
So sorry for your loss. I can imagine the shock, Expecting a wonderful time and suddenly... Virtual hugs,
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86999)
• United States
25 Jul 22
Thank you. We’ve all been in that position before, hit with devastating surprise news. You never get used to it, no matter how many times it happens. Prayerfully it only happens a couple of times in your life. (I’ve had enough shocks from phone calls saying that someone had a heart attack and didn’t survive to last four or five lifetimes. 
)
)1 person likes this
@1creekgirl (44560)
• United States
24 Jul 22
That's such sad news. Sounds like he was a very special guy.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86999)
• United States
24 Jul 22
If you ever showed up at one of our tournaments and listened to us talking to one another, you’d swear we absolutely HATED everybody. That’s part of the “family” attitude (if you said anything to anybody you’d find two dozen putters wrapped around your neck). We teased Monte for his height, and he took it and gave it right back to us. Bill Anderson once told me if Homer & Jethro didn’t like you they wouldn’t talk to you, and if they did like you they picked on you mercilessly. That’s the way we are, and in that regard Monte knew he was deeply loved…and that he deeply loved us.
1 person likes this
@1creekgirl (44560)
• United States
24 Jul 22
@FourWalls You have some very special memories of Monte.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (223055)
• United States
24 Jul 22
I'm so sorry that you lost a friend. May he rest in peace.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86999)
• United States
24 Jul 22
Thank you. He was a lot of fun to play with, and always helpful (he was a pro, I’m an amateur, so we played in different divisions).
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86999)
• United States
24 Jul 22
Thank you very much for your kind words.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86999)
• United States
24 Jul 22
Thank you for your sweet expressions of sympathy. His brother (I think his only close family member) was on this trip with him. So he’s holding the tour members up just as they’re holding him up.
@FourWalls (86999)
• United States
24 Jul 22
Thank you for the kind words. I’ll pass them along to the rest of the tour members. We’re all suffering as one today.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86999)
• United States
24 Jul 22
Thank you. His brother came with him on this trip, and he encouraged the tour to play today in Monte’s honor. Sometimes you get annoyed when you hear someone say “he would’ve wanted it this way,” but we all knew Monte’s devotion to the game.
1 person likes this
