| THE LEGEND of PINEAPPLE ISLAND & its RESIDENT MERMAID, the PINEAPPLE PRINCESS Long ago & far away, in a land called Aurora, there lived a gentle mermaid family of 4. The family's youngest daughter, Candy, was born w/a strange gold & green birthmark on her otherwise pretty, scaly little blue tail. Candy's little mermaid playmates often made fun of her flawed tail. Candy hated her tail & was shy & embarrassed because of it. Candy's wise parents would try to console her by saying that EVERYONE has at least one thing that they hate about themselves, & often 3 or 4 things. They told Candy to learn to make lemonade out of lemons, but the meaning of this was not understood by the young mermaid. As Candy grew older, her birthmark began to subtly change shape, as sometimes happens. In her mid teens, it began to resemble a pineapple, & w/in a few more years, there was no doubt! As Candy matured, she finally understood what her parents' lemonade analogy meant, & she set to work to make future "lemonade" out of her pineapple birthmark. She went to college, became an elem. sch. teacher, & saved her money. Finally, after 16 years of very hard work, she was asked to take an early partial (31%) disability retirement due to a chronic bad back from 5 previous mermaid volleyball injuries, which herniated 5 lumbar discs. She had had a lumbar laminectomy surgery on L5-S1 many years before, after the 1st injury. Well, as the story goes, Candy bought a tiny little island to retire on. She had always been told that she had magical mermaid hands, so she decided to develop a little massage business to put her hands to good use. She decided to celebrate her unique birthmark by decorating her cozy little island w/well over 100 pineapples (119 at last count). Some were unusually large & colorful. She was ashamed no longer. It seemed perfect to name her place Pineapple Island, after her tail's birthmark, & so she did! The rest is almost history, except for one thing. Candy's massage business was going very well, but, understandably, she had trouble moving around the massage table on her tail! So she sought the advice of an orthopedic surgeon. To make a long story not quite as long, the surgeon performed a simple surgical procedure which enabled Candy to temporarily remove her tail, shortly before beginning a massage. You can see it hanging on the wall, drip drying, when you enter the massage room from the Pineapple Patio. (See pics.below.) 2 human looking prosthetic legs were designed & made to attach to her body, as needed. Candy was then able to balance & move around the massage table very well (for a mermaid)! The Pineapple Mermaid Princess, as some clients began to call Candy, lived very happily ever after, with her many colorful pineapples, many massage tables, & many sweet & loving puddy tats, on peaceful Pineapple Island. THE END |
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