Tuesday, September 01, 2015

first draft

The Outlaw Montgomery Wayne

Our world will laugh a little less without Montgomery Wayne in it.  

Monty bounced through life with unbridled, unreasonable joy and enthusiasm. Through his bloodshot eyes, he chose to see opportunity in despair, hope in heartbreak and ferociously believed that love--mixed with laughter--could cure every injury of the heart and heal a broken body. Monty was an idea man; he literally believed that he could do anything, and saw reality as a minor hindrance to achieving his dream no matter how ridiculous or pointless that dream looked like to those around him. 

His dogged devotion to achievement was a happy partner to Monty's unyielding work ethic. He was a hustler and did what he had to do to get it done, even it meant doing it ass backward and at the last minute.  Then he quietly got up the next day, hugged the hell out of every bit of luck he had and did it again. He scraped by, loving the ride, one day at a time. Monty never had a lot, but he always had enough to share if you wanted some.

A sharp mind and a quick wit, Monty thirsted to know about everything that caught his attention.  His brain never stopped looking for new experiences, whether it was moving out on his own at 17, marijuana marathons, studying college textbooks to get a degree by osmosis, watching hours of B-movies, writing screenplays, investigating time travel and eventually standing in the spotlight on a dark stage to lay bare everything he feared and fought for just to get a laugh.

Monty loved with his whole heart and no one held his heart more tightly than Stephanie Wiley.  They met in 1992 and within a year, Monty and Stephanie shared a name, a home and a son -- Fallon Wayne.  Soon came their big-eyed beauty, Taylor Wiley and the Seitz family set out for greatness, armed with little more than blind ambition and a few connections in the mattress business.  They made a great team, and together opened four Capitol Mattress stores throughout Austin. A decision to make a small town life, got out of the big city and opened All Star Furniture on Hwy. 71 in Bastrop.  Together, Monty and Stephanie spent their days selling beds, telling jokes, carting kids and clinging to their commitment to each other to stabilize their rocky ride through married life. 

The Seitz world came crashing down in May 2008 when their car was broadsided and rolled across Hwy. 71 leaving Monty and Fallon with minor injuries, and leaving Stephanie in a profound state of suspension between awareness and emptiness. 









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