Small But Mighty Personal Narrative
the journal of literature and the arts at saint david ’ s school
Small But Mighty Personal Narrative
Although my grandmother was a physically small woman , she was a tremendous force of nature . Born in 1932 in Cavan , Ireland , Mary Fitzpatrick boarded a ship to New York City in 1953 to pursue the American dream with just a single suitcase and an eighth-grade education . The hard work , faith , and love that my grandmother applied to her life as she made her dream a reality left a mark on everyone she met , including me .
My grandmother grew up in a part of Ireland known as “ the back of the beyond .” As the youngest of eleven children , she worked on the family farm as soon as she was able to do so . She learned to cook , sew , and take care of the house to help her mother . She could even catch fish in the stream behind her house with her bare hands . Talk about tough ! When she was fourteen years old , my grandmother was sent to live with her brother so that she could do the “ women ’ s work ” there , including taking care of her nieces and nephews . That meant leaving school for good after the eighth grade .
At the age of twenty-one , my grandmother left Ireland to look for work in America . In New York , over the years , she worked as a nanny , waitress , and lunch lady . My grandmother saved her hard-earned money , and with my grandfather and father , she eventually moved from a rented apartment in the Bronx to her own house in Westchester . She always tried to better herself . So , even though she worked long hours , my grandmother went to night school and earned her GED . Throughout her eighty-nine years of life , my grandmother believed in the value of honest , hard work , and she encouraged
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