Amy was the youngest child of Peter and Ellen Ames of the fictional community of Woodbridge, New York. On the first episode, her mother was injured in an automobile accident and died. This sent her father and her older brother and sister, Jerry Ames and Susan Ames Dunbar into grief. The oldest daughter, Susan, became the mother figure, and tended to be very bossy; Jerry went after the driver who caused his mother's death and tried to kill him, but was sent to reform school for this. Amy became worried and everyone was working overtime to make sure her needs were met, because of her young age. During her father's short-lived marriage to Myra Lake (who was one of her teachers), she considered her a mother figure.