"The decision to give up Audrey took a little longer" Baker said regarding their decision to move in his book. (64) Uncle Tom and Aunt Goldie wanted to take her in because of their impossibility to bare children. Mother didn't want to give Audrey away and "break up her family."(64) Elizabeth also said "three can starve as cheap as two," meaning that the three of her children could live in harsher times than if she only had two. (67) So why not give one child a better life than a family could provide by sending her away. Finally Elizabeth came to her senses and realized that they "would happily give her a comfortable home and a good life, which was more than my mother could promise her."(64) Elizabeth loved her daughter but for good reason she knew that Audrey would be better off and so would she and the other children. The Great Depression brought hard times for many families. The size of your family meant a great deal to the survival of it through this drastic time. .
After they moved to the city, Elizabeth had plans to live with her brother only until she got her feet on the ground. There was one problem though, "there were no jobs to be found." (75) At this point in time it was hard to find a job for anyone, let alone a school teacher like Elizabeth. She tried everything and no one was looking to hire. Finally, "she found temporary holiday work in a Newark five-and-dime store. Twelve hours a day, $18 a week. It was good pay; any pay was good pay by then." (75) People were starting to not care for what job they got as long as they had a little income flowing in. Elizabeth put her pride on hold and did what she had to do to support the family. Times were hard and every little sliver helped.
During this time of financial difficulties, it wasn't unusual to send your children off to make a living and pull their weight for the house income. Russell Baker was only eight when his mother told him to make something of himself.
