In Memory of Sarah Montgomery: Comedy on the Brain 2
by Rowan Beck,
August 11, 2011, page 9.....

On July 19, Sarah Montgomery lost her two-year battle with glioblastoma brain multiforme (GBM), the most common and aggressive type of brain cancer. She will be dearly missed by the many whom she touched with her lovely smile and grace. This writer for The Charlotte News first met her last year when she and her husband, Ted, presented Comedy on the Brain. It was a fundraiser where all proceeds went to the American Brain Tumor Association toward research for this lesser-studied cancer. Saddened by her loss, I returned to see how Ted was doing and find out if Comedy of the Brain would continue.
The house was immaculate, with no signs of anyone ever being ill. Ted said it was the way the house looked before Sarah had gotten sick. He had put away all the medicine bottles and evidence of the cancer and returned the house to its previous state… all part of the healing process. He had already had “two years of grieving, never looking away from the illness.”
Her passing was peaceful. “She just stopped breathing,” Ted said quietly. Only five minutes before, he had said good-bye. “The words sounded so simple and monumental.” After she passed, she was placed in a cedar ark that Ted made for her. She was dressed in a cream colored gown and given a spritz of Chanel N°5. The ark was then filled with layers of flowers freshly cut from their gardens; moments later neighbors brought flowers from their own gardens. Flowers sent from Hawaii were put in as were the hundreds of cards people sent. The ark lid had a copper pendant of the sun, moon and stars, which looked like a halo. Ted found significance in the ark because “it gets you to another place” and was inspired by an eight-foot mural of Noah’s Ark painted on the wall at the Respite House.
There was a tremendous outpouring of community support throughout Sarah’s illness and her death. People often left food and other items in Ted’s studio. He referred to them as “random acts of culinary expressions” and added that Sarah “was one of the most beloved in the neighborhood” of Ten Stones where they lived. This was not surprising, as she and Ted had created the community in the early 1990s. Ten Stones is an intentional community designed around a circle. “A circle fosters community,” Ted said, looking from his bench out onto the green circle. Like ripples in the water after a stone has dropped, their community spiraled out. First it was Ten Stones, then the larger community of Charlotte, then Vermont, and the ripples continue. “Everybody (in Charlotte) seems to know someone who lives here.”
Even though Sarah is now gone, her memory will continue on. Ted is already planning Comedy on the Brain 2: Still Laughing. The date has been set for September 22 at The Old Lantern. All the same comedians plan to return. Last year they raised approximately $8,500 that went directly to research, “every penny.” Ted thinks it will be more heartfelt with Sarah gone, but he is looking forward to it.
As we sat there looking out over the green and at Sarah’s studio I saw words hanging from the edge of the roof that encircles the building. Ted cut out the phrase from e. e. cummings, “i thank You God for most this amazing day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes.” It speaks volumes about their life in Ten Stones and the value they found in their community and the life they shared. Ted feels blessed by the 33-year romance they had. “The hardest part is losing your best friend,” he said.
A celebration of Sarah’s life will be held on August 20 at 4 p.m. at Ten Stones. All are welcome.