For closure, to settle my spirit, I did attend Kamonti’s funeral. I walked in to a very crowded sanctuary indicating she was loved. I asked someone if the seat on the end of a pew in the middle was taken and it was, but the kind lady directed me to her opposite side, which was available. I sat down and the woman on my right said hello as if she knew me. It turns out it was Shonda, the receptionist at a business we frequent, but had not seen in a while, who is Kamonti’s cousin. It was nice to have someone familiar to comfort during the service. That was on Thursday.

I believe it was the same day the universe almost broke the opportunity for my dear old friend Felicia and I to get together due to a missed text message. People can be really quick to jump to conclusions when messages go unresponded to. It’s such a noisy world and hard to keep up, at least for me, between phone calls, voicemail, text messages, messages in messenger, WhatsApp, Skool, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Slack, GroupMe, and TikTok!

Felicia and I made plans for her to drive up from Indiana on Saturday so we could drive together up to Holy Hill on Sunday to see the fall foliage we had heard about. It turned out to be a fantastic little-over-24-hour get together. We’re always able to just pick right up where we left off even when we haven’t seen each other in over a decade. Here are a few photos from our trip to one of the highest points in southern Wisconsin including views from the Basilica scenic Tower built in the 1930s — a peaceful refuge over 435 acres!