Marguerite had a hard time dealing with the death of Lee's Father, which left her all alone to raise Lee and his two brothers, Robert Oswald and John Pic, a son from her first marriage (Beck 71). Marguerite checked Robert and John into an orphanage so that she could find work for her family. Marguerite wanted to put Lee into an orphanage, but he was too young. After Lee turned three years old, he was placed in the same orphanage that Robert and John were put in earlier. After two years of working in a factory, Lee's mother took Lee and his brothers out of the orphanage (Posner 6). About a year and a half later, Marguerite informed Lee that she would marry, Edwin Ekdahl, a local businessman, whom she had known for about six months. Lee and Edwin became close friends, but this came to a quick halt as Edwin and Marguerite started arguing. They finally decided it was in everyone's best interest to get a divorce; so they separated in the summer of 1948. Due to a lack of money, Marguerite was then forced to move Lee and her family into a poor house. Because his family was constantly on the move, Lee never stayed in school long (Posner 8). Marguerite kept her family moving around, mainly back and forth from Texas to Louisiana. His mother also had a depressed attitude towards life. In January of 1950, John Pic left home to join the Coast Guard. Soon after, Robert also left home to join the Marines, leaving only Lee and his mother (Posner 10). In the summer of 1952, Merguerite and Lee moved to New York. However, this caused problems for Lee; because New York did not allow children to skip school. He was put on probation and was evaluated by psychiatrist who said, "Vivid fantasy life, turning around topics of omnipotence." (Parshall 72) Which basically meant that Lee was in his own world and did not seem to pay much attention to the happenings in the real world. He was once asked if he preferred the company of boys or girls, to this question he responded,, "I dislike everybody.