Fitted with artificial limbs to attend kindergarten, Cronin mostly succeeded in being accepted as a 'normal' kid, except for the gracelessness of others, such as her fifth-grade religion instructor, Sister Luke, who announced to the class that the reason for Cronin's disability was that her mother had taken 'a pill' during pregnancy, though Cronin was never able to determine if thalidomide was involved. The product of a large, deeply Catholic Cincinnati family, Cronin 'squiddled' along the floor with ample self-sufficiency as a child until she began to recognize how she was different from other people, especially the members of her own athletic, sometimes cruel, family. This rather circuitous memoir by Cronin, now a clinical psychologist in L.A., tells of growing up with a congenital disability that left her without legs from the knee down.

Reflecting with humor and grace on her youth, search for love, and quest for answers, Cronin spins a shimmering story of self-discovery and transformation. Eventually, however, she found the strength to set out on her own, volunteering at hospitals and earning a PhD in clinical psychology. After the death of a close brother, she turned to alcohol. In later years, as her mother battled mental illness and denied having taken the drug thalidomide-known to cause birth defects-Cronin felt apart from her family. She felt most comfortable and happiest relaxing and skinny dipping with her girlfriends, imagining herself “an elusive mermaid.” The cause of her disability remained taboo, however, even as she looked toward the future and the possibility of her own family. As a teen, thrilled when boys asked her out, she was confused about what sexuality meant for her. Thanks to her older brother’s coaching, she handled a classmate’s playground taunts with a smack from her lunchbox. But starting school, even wearing prosthetics, Cronin had to brave bullying and embarrassing questions. Her boisterous Catholic family accepted her situation as “God’s will,” treating her no differently than her ten siblings, as she “squiddled” through their 1960s Cincinnati home.

'Extraordinarily courageous chronicles her journey to fit in and thrive with bravery and wit.' -O, The Oprah MagazineĪt the age of three, Eileen Cronin first realized that only she did not have legs.

Mermaid a memoir of resilience