Lucy Elizabeth
Lucy Elizabeth Baker was Russell's mother. She was born in Virginia and looked up to her father as a great man. Therefore every man in her life she expected to be like her father. So when she was married and had a son she wanted to mold them to be like "Papa". Unfortunately she was not every successful with her husband. Russell's father was an alcoholic and he was also diabetic. These two conditions did not mix well together, and when Russell was five his father died of a diabetic coma. Lucy was then forced to be the sole provider for her family of now four. Influenced by grief and the dooming future of poverty she gave up her youngest child, a baby girl of ten months old. Lucy gave Audrey to her brother-in-law Uncle Tom, and his wife Aunt Goldie, who were situated nicely in wealth. They also had no other children so it seemed like the perfect match. Lucy now had only Russell and his little sister Doris.
Several years after living in Baltimore, when Russell was 14, Lucy remarried. She married a man named Herbert (Herb)Orrison. With the addition of Herb's income Lucy was able to move her family into a nice house of their own. Soon she gave birth to another girl, Mary Leslie. The secretiveness that Lucy had with her marriage put a riff between her and Russell. Russell resented Herb for taking his spot as "man of the house". Lucy only wanted what was best for her children, and she felt she succeeded with Russell.
Several years after living in Baltimore, when Russell was 14, Lucy remarried. She married a man named Herbert (Herb)Orrison. With the addition of Herb's income Lucy was able to move her family into a nice house of their own. Soon she gave birth to another girl, Mary Leslie. The secretiveness that Lucy had with her marriage put a riff between her and Russell. Russell resented Herb for taking his spot as "man of the house". Lucy only wanted what was best for her children, and she felt she succeeded with Russell.