Home
| “Healing takes time. Our Broken bones will one day mend, our bruises will fade, and our scars will become a tender reminder of a misfortune recorded in the visible history of our bodies – a landmark commemorating a trauma we endured and overcame.”
|
 |
When an ordinary summer morning turns tragic, Melissa Cronin begins a journey through trauma, memory, loss, and forgiveness. The Peach is a luminous memoir of survival and transformation – a story about what remains when a life is broken open and the unexpected grace found in learning how to live again.
A former neonatal intensive care nurse, Melissa H. Cronin is an essayist, journalist, pedestrian advocate, Irish fiddler, gardener, and nature artist. She received her MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Recognized as a Notable Mention in The Best American Essays (2019) and a recipient of a Vermont Studio Center Merit Grant and a Vermont Arts Council Development Grant, her work has appeared in various mainstream newspapers, book series, magazines, and literary journals. Melissa lives with her husband in Vermont’s Champlain Islands.
Set against the backdrop of the 2003 Santa Monica Farmers’ Market crash, Melissa’s memoir, The Peach, A Memoir of Trauma, Survival, and Forgiveness, will be released by Mnemosyne Books in the fall of 2026.
A public speaker on the topics of TBIs and PTSD, Melissa is available for events on topics related to trauma, including:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder/anxiety
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Pedestrian Safety
- Forgiveness
- Physical/mental/emotional abuse
- Anorexia Nervosa
- Body image
- Identity