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| Photo by Jim Rix, 1976 |
Did you know that on this day in history, April 28, 357, Constantius II visited Rome for the first time?
Me either. Or that April 28 is the day on which Benito Mussolini was killed by Italian partisans? Or that Charles DeGaulle resigned as President of France on this day in 1969? None of those events are committed to memory for the simple reason that they haven’t had much impact on my life. However, on this date in 1967 something did happen that has had a profound impact on me (and many others), I got another sister, Morissa Camille Knudsen. Here are some things you may or may not know about her.
Our birthday is on the same day. Not the same date, silly, the same day. Our birthdays are exactly seven weeks apart, so if my birthday is on a Saturday, so is her’s. Guess what day my birthday was on this year.
Morissa was named after our father, Morris. Everybody knows that one.
Morissa’s name was determined by our father. Not everyone knows this one. The story goes that when Morissa was born, the resemblance was so uncanny that everyone insisted she must be named after her dad. “It’s so easy, Mo, just add an ‘A’ and she’s Morrisa.” That’s not an exact quote, but that’s the gist of what people were saying. Mo thought otherwise. To his linguistic mind, Morrisa, phonetically would be mor-RI-za. To arrive at the proper sound, one letter ‘r’ was dropped and another ‘s’ was added to create, mo-RISS-a – where’s the schwa symbol on this damn computer? [Editor: it’s on my computer, James: mo-RISS-ǝ.]
Morissa has never found a novelty license plate in the souvenir store. I don’t think she bothers to look anymore.
Do you know how many countries Morissa has travelled to? I don’t, but it’s a bunch. She’s seen most of Europe and a good chunk of Southeast Asia. She’s also been to all but a few of the 50 states in this country, most of them on her motorcycle.
She motorcycled across the United States. Allow me to provide some context – Morissa and her late husband, Gary, started on Bainbridge Island, Washington, and a few weeks later dipped a toe in the Atlantic somewhere on the Carolina coast. That’s motorcycling across the country. Oh, and she did this trip piloting her own motorcycle.
Morissa is well-connected. That expression usually causes people to think of someone knowing people in high places or individuals with great influence. I would frame Morissa’s connectivity this way – I believe she could “couch-surf” her way around the world without much difficulty. Wherever she goes, Morissa makes friends and so it follows that wherever she goes, Morissa has friends.
Morissa is a Rembrandt at taking selfies. She has mastered the smartphone self-portrait. If you don’t believe me, take a look at her Facebook page; there’s quite a few to see. And while you’re there, wish her a Happy Birthday.
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| Morissa and her current significant other, Gene Parini, doing two things she enjoys, travelling and taking selfies – in Portugal on this occasion |
Happy Birthday, Sis.
| Copyright © 2018 by James Knudsen |
I've always adored that picture of Morissa and her Dad. She is an amazing person and this was a great brotherly birthday tribute!
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