Free Secrets and Lies by Joanne Clancy Page A

right,” Maura laughed. “Don't you remember what you were like as a teenager? You had poor Auntie Aisling driven distracted with your punk rocker phase.”
    Kerry had the good grace to blush at the memory.
    “Yeah, I remember. The sudden transformation I had at thirteen evaporated when I went away to university; five long years later. Auntie Aisling laughed when I said that suddenly she seemed to know a lot about the world again in my eyes. I recall thinking for years that she was old-fashioned and not very clever. Of course, back then I thought I knew everything and she knew nothing.”
    “Typical teenager,” Maura rolled her eyes. “I'm glad that I get to experience parenthood vicariously through you. Sometimes I wonder how you have the patience to raise two children. I would have gone insane by now, especially when they were younger. I love them both to bits but my goodness they are hard work.”
    “Tell me about it,” Kerry sighed. “I have to admit that I was very lucky to have all the help I had when they were small. It was such a huge relief that Conor insisted we have au pairs and nannies and I'm very grateful for that. I don't know how most mothers cop. It's true what Auntie Aisling used to say; “small children, small problems, big children, big problems. Life was a lot simpler when they were babies.”
    “Saoirse and Emer have given you very little trouble over the years,” Maura interjected, rushing to defend her beloved nieces.
    “I know, I feel guilty complaining about them but there's something else that's beginning to worry me about Saoirse,” Kerry continued. “She hasn't been eating much recently.”
    Maura's face fell. “We need to keep an eye on that,” she said quietly. “Hopefully it's just a phase but we can't let it continue for long or it might develo p into anorexia. I couldn't bear to see Saoirse go through what you experienced.”
    Maura's face clouded at the memory of her sister's battle against anorexia nervosa. Kerry was thirteen years old when she started to obsess about her body and weight, the same age as Saoirse.
    It had taken several years for her family to recognise how Kerry was punishing herself. She became very adept at hiding her diminishing frame under baggy tops and loose jeans. Her weight had plummeted to almost six stone before they’d realised that there was something very wrong. Her aunt and uncle assumed that she had simply lost her baby fat during puberty and as a result of all the sports she played. When Maura had seen her sister's skeletal frame one afternoon at the swimming pool she knew that something was badly wrong and had immediately told their aunt.
    Aunt Aisling did her best to address her niece's issues but Kerry's battle with anorexia lasted throughout her teenage years. Her troubles had started when one of her friends had made a mocking remark that she was a little chubby around the middle and could do with losing a few pounds. Kerry had been absolutely mortified and had immediately embarked upon a punishing diet and exercise regime in order to gain a flat stomach like the rest of her pals. The slimmer she got the more compliments she received, thus encouraging her to lose even more weight and trapping her in the addictive cycle of anorexia nervosa.
    Food became almost abhorrent to her. She would obsess over every single calorie and at the height of her illness she was surviving on as little as five hu ndred calories a day! She compulsively weighed herself and if she'd gained even half a pound she would feel utterly devastated. The number on the scales had the power to make or break her.
    Kerry remembered feeling an odd mixture of emotions when she had anorexia; from feeling superbly confident to terribly insecure. She ’d hated her body and the inevitable changes that puberty brought to her. Part of her didn't want to grow up and was desperate to stay in the comforting and familiar security of childhood. She fervently hoped that her daughter