A MERMAIDS BEST FRIEND

Karen Sue smiled. As her caregiver/companion, I asked her what she would like to eat. Karen Sue's eyes lit up like robin egg blue hue, as she replies "Meatloaf." Karen Sue shows me a notebook of Anna and Elsa on the front cover, the popular characters of the movie, FROZEN. I say outloud, "Sisters," "Yes, Karen Sue, you do have a sister and her name is, Rebecca, right?" Karen Sue is thirty-five years old and has/was born with Downs Syndrome.

Each person with Downs Syndrome is an individual. Karen Sue is short in stature, flattened face, always has a ready smile, and a willingness to please, nurture others. One of her favorite things to do is adult coloring pages. Her family, friends, and myself keep her supplies with crayons, colored pencils, and gel pens. This is an activity that Karen enjoys when she is happy and content, or sick and upset.

Karen Sue's laugh is infectious, she likes to pull pranks. Once we were in the company of her family, and she saw her chance pulling down my Jordache jeans. Embarrassing for me, hilarious for her. My solution is to buy new tight fitting jeans. She tried again and again unsuccessfully, wearing a puzzled look on her face. Another prank went this way, as she waited while I collected items for her bath. Liquid soap, two washcloths, two bath towels, comb, hairbrush, and body lotion. She had been sitting on the sofa, I was collecting items from the bathroom. Possibly, five minutes passed no more, in a plastic container that is packed to go home from the hospital with you. Laying in the soapy water was the remote control. Ordinarily, Karen Sue needed assistance to get up, walk, and steady herself. These obstacles triumphantly overcame with the possibility of pulling a prank.

In this day and age, the remote control is a valuable possession. I felt anxious that I would get in serious trouble. There was no trouble that followed this incident. We had to be careful in the one outside activity we participated in. The paddle board centers were made of velcro, the type ball that was used was a tennis ball. A fun toss back and forth to each other, if we chose to play indoors no damage issue. Outside, during the summer I put sunscreen in her nose,face,and arms. Karen Sue's skin was consistently pale and white.

Karen Sue would invite me to her bedroom, wiggle her nose as we were transported through the full length mirror. We adorned each other's hair with tiny white pearls. The tunnel swept us up and out to sea. Imaginary friends and mermaid tales related over a vibration mermaids swam with the dolphins. The word mermaid is a compound of mere, the Old English word for "sea", and maid, a woman. The male equivalent is a merman. Mermaids are the very spirit of the powerful ocean, and can be overwhelming and intense at times. Mermaids have a rebellious nature and an adventurous spirit. Mermaids despise limitation and crave freedom.

Splash fantasy begins with Karen Sue pressing her index finger into the full length mirror in the bathroom. Wiggling her nose, touching the top of her tender head, gingerly pulling longer red hair, in flowing cascades. Iridescent sparkly scales replaced two steady legs with flapping fishtail. Just add water illuminates a shimmering pool surrounded by a sandy beach. Bright sunlight ends the lovely picturesque view of a magical mermaid.

Becoming a best friend, doing each other's hair, swimming together, and watching mermaid movies seal a friendship. Life is so short. We spend so much time wishing, wanting, and waiting for something better instead of focusing on all the simple blessings that surrounds us everyday. Life is so fragile, it only takes a moment for everything to change. A mermaid is a mythological creature with a female human head and upper body and the tail of a fish. A human girl can stand out in the rain unchanged, a mermaid will lose her legs and her fishtail will appear.

Mermaid schools are gaining popularity across the world. Mermaid Kat Academy, founded in 2012 was the world's first mermaid school to make mermaid swimming accessible to the general public. The academy is named after its founder Kat Gray.

Mermaids have four powers: immortality, hypnosis, telepathy, and the ability to see into the future. What do mermaids do for fun? Swim, sing, whisper spells of immortality chanted to a handsome human man, mermaids can sacrifice their immortality to live out their lives with a human, hypnosis is what a siren does, sirens kill, mermaids sing, these creatures are not the same. Telepathy is being able to communicate with their mind. Seeing into the future and rescuing a human from danger is what a mermaid can do.

In mermaid classes, you'll learn how to swim with a tail, how to do hand stands, later synchronized mermaid swimming skills. Some classes teach kids about caring for the oceans. Mermaid swimming is a great way to get or stay in shape. AquaMermaid Austin reports mermaid swimming can burn up to 600 calories an hour. A total body workout from toning your glutes, quads and abs, combined with great cardio exercises working on breath control under water, says Rachael Rodeck co-head mermaid in Chicago. Mermaiding is ideal for people as they age. AquaMermaid is a low impact sport that benefits from the buoyant effect of the water that takes pressure off joints, alleviating pain and discomfort.

Kat Gray is a professional mermaid and leads Mermaid Week Mexico as well as other places. She is in mermaid videos, playing on the deck, swimming alongside sea creatures such as manta rays, dolphins, whales, crocodiles and even tiger sharks. Katrina Gray is a professional underwater model and mermaid. She is not only a certified scuba and free diving instructor, but also a technical diver and cave diver. Her husband Ian, is also an underwater photographer and wrestles crocodiles. The ocean conservationist will share her stories of animal encounters and projects around the globe. At the same time, she will share her experiences and teach breath hold and underwater modeling techniques. The experience of 2020 Mermaid Week Mexico costs $2,899.00 per person, and is $1,000.00 non refundable deposit.

The most popular mermaid has been Disney's "The Little Mermaid ", Ariel. She has two older sisters by the names of Adrina and Arista. Ariel married Prince Eric and they had a daughter named Melody. Disney adapted "The Little Mermaid " from the little mermaid written by Hans Christian Anderson.

Mermaid Rules and Reasons: Rule #1 Don't touch or be in water in public. Be aware of H20-water. Reason #1 If you touch water your tail will always appear 10 seconds after you get wet.

Rule #2 Keep your tail a secret from anyone unless you told them and you could trust them. Reason #2 If you show your tail to anyone who doesn't know that you are a mermaid you could lose your tail forever.

Rule #3 Always believe in mermaids. Reason #3 If you don 't believe in mermaids then you have killed 2 mermaids per a person.

Rule #4 Use your powers for proper and to train the skills and don't use them for bad. Reason #4 Don't use your powers for evil unless you want them taken away from you forever.

Rule #5 Don't tell your parents. Reason #5 Most adults don't believe in mermaids so don't tell them.

Mermaids are beautiful and have lovely voices. Merman are strong and like to share riddles. As guardians and protectors, stewards of the oceans we as humans are compelled to join them in this endeavor. There is incredible beauty and wonder in the seas. Let us take care of the oceans, earth, skies, mountains. forests, fields and flatlands, for future generations.