What's in a name?

“What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”, Is a well-known quote by William Shakespeare.  We needed a name for our adventure. And a name is everything.

Somewhere in the process of purchasing our little piece of paradise the real estate agent said we need a name for our LLC. In Honduras if you are not a citizen and purchase more than 1 acre of land you have to form a Limited Liability company or LLC. I remember the conversation well; we were out at a pizza place with some friends listening to a band we know. I stood outside so I could hear; I said what kind of name? Can it be a crazy one? He said it really doesn’t matter it is just for the paperwork.  Not too long before this we were having dinner with friends at our house and someone lost a piece of pineapple on the floor. He said “Runaway Pineapple”, my girls said that would be a good name for something runaway pineapple.  So for lack of any more thought, I was ready to get back in to enjoy pizza beer and music, I said call it the Runaway Pineapple. I figured that would be a fun name for the paperwork and we would call our business something else once we figured it out. So on April 1 2014 we became the Runaway Pineapple Holding company S.A.

It’s kind of funny when I think about it; our closing was on April 1, April fool’s day. I often think it was some kind of April fool’s joke. But that is a story for another blog this one is about our name.

Over the months of planning the name grew on us and began to gain meaning, over time we realized it was the prefect name for us.

My husband and I both have our roots in New England and can trace our ancestry back to England for the most part, as early as the 1600s.  If any of you have ever been to New England states like New Hampshire or Massachusetts you probably noticed the Pineapple is used quite often in signs for Inns or Restaurants as well as a common feature in decoration and design.  

 

The Pineapple became a symbol of hospitality in the early American Colonies and still is used in this way today. The legend goes way back to early sea captains in New England colonies. The would sail to the Caribbean islands and return with ships full of trade goods like fruit, spices and rum .When the captain finally returned home he would spear a pineapple on the fence post outside his home to let friends and family know he had safely returned and they were welcome to come visit, share food and drink and listen to stories of his voyage.  Over time Innkeepers began to use the pineapple on their sign , symbolizing hospitality , stating that all were welcome to come in for food and shelter.

As I stated in my previous blog my husband and I feel we are to live a life of hospitality, we have the “me casa is su casa” philosophy, all are welcome in our home.  It is also very fitting that Pineapples are very present on Roatan, always fresh , yummy and available. 

 

In the process of deciding what to do about the little piece of land we fell in love with we had many discussions with friends and family. Should we buy or not buy. Most of them encouraged us to go for it, run after our dream.

My husband and I both having roots in New England , combined with our challenge from God to extend hospitality to all people in and ample encouragement to run after our dreams , Runaway Pineapple Lodge became the perfect name.

What’s in a name, well everything, the name gave us the perfect launching point for our whole project and became the driving force, the hope behind our dream.