Summary Of Ann's Mother: Irene Fitzpatrick

Chapter 2: Ann’s Mother: (Maiden name) Irene Fitzpatrick

About eight years before Ann was born, her mother, Irene, and her family, came to America from Dublin Ireland, and moved into the most posh and expensive neighborhood of New York City. The prosperity of the Fitzpatrick family came from the Mother’s side of the family, as they were quite successful in the freight shipping business. Although the Fitzpatrick’s possessed substantial wealth, they were Irish and were looked down upon by their neighbors; the prominent families of the American Aristocracy, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. There was a stigma to being Irish at this time in America. Businesses that were hiring would have signs in the window that read: No Irish Need Apply.
Irene had no close friends, and while most of the girls were cordial or indifferent to her, none of the girls would befriend her, and some would often try to make her feel that she was inferior. She was completely outnumbered. She was the only commoner, and the only Irish girl in the school and was frequently singled out for her lack of status. Teased and taunted by her classmates, she sometimes had to struggle not to
On the evening her seventeenth birthday, Irene and her mother went to a restaurant for dinner. When Irene stepped out of the coach, as they returned home, the horse was spooked and jerked the coach forward. Irene slipped on the step, and her face hit the rear wheel. She suffered a gash about one inch long on, her right cheek, just below her eye. Mother held a handkerchief to Irene’s face to stop the bleeding, and the driver took the coach to Saint John’s hospital, two blocks away. A doctor gave her six stitches, and Irene was terrified she would have a scar. She had just lost her father and now could lose her beauty as well. She found it almost impossible to go to school with her face all bandaged up, and when the bandage came off, there was a small but very apparent scar. Classmate, Jill Borden, said sarcastically: “It’s such a shame; you had such a pretty face.” After a few days, Warren seemed less interested in Irene and was frequently talking to another girl. The scar was small, and detracted very little from her face, but Irene felt like damaged goods. She was reminded of the time when her mother bought a new dinning room table, and when the deliverymen placed the table in the dining room, her mother noticed a scratch so small you could hardly notice it. She insisted they take the table back and bring a new one. When Irene looked in the mirror, the scar was all she saw, and she