#for a reason...

maddie is the one that took more of the personality of raleigh’s namesake. but this raleigh, who i’ll call rj for now, was rather bubbly, an energetic contrast to the rather mellow spencers. but it made him popular in school, even if he was part of the marching band over sports (as a drummer!).  and, while wanting more in life, he knew he was fated to be a farmer on ellesmere for the rest of his life. arthur really forced that onto his eldest child, just as arthur’s father did to him. and it did hurt rj seeing arthur giving lori more attention when she took actual interest in ellesmere  or lizzie telling robert she was proud of robert’s straight a’s in his schoolwork while rj thought about the west coast  (something for his oldest niece to accomplish with stanford that cascade to the other siblings) & didn’t felt useful to his parents . one of the many reasons why rj joined the military for a couple tours, to decided on what he wanted to do without feeling too trapped at ellesmere, for his parents to say they’re proud of him instead of scolding the rock music blasting at midnight.  

rj was the closest to robert, if only because he knew robert did look up to him.  like, despite not being the most attractive especially compared to robert, his confident moments brought him many dates, though (like maddie) was fickle on keeping a serious relationship. finally, he kept a relationship with a girl that, despite parental disapproval, proposed to her. however, a tractor accident in 1989 cut marriage plans short... and rj’s life at only 24. if he lived, he & lori would’ve co-owned ellesmere, with his focus on the farming over horses. probably had a kid or two, and hyped up whatever his nieces and nephews did, especially maddie’s music or throwing a ball with jamie. oh, and raleigh would’ve been jordan. maybe robert even could’ve been a better father, with rj’s guidance as the only true person robert looked up to, but who knows any of these hypotheticals. because he’s gone and nothing more than a gravestone for the spencers, and a burden on raleigh to bare his name.

lori anne spencer

ah! the clear favorite aunt! or more that she’s the most convenient aunt, being the closest neighbor for the spencers, where little feet only needed a little walk to ask lori for some pancakes. but she’s a single mom, having her only son, the first grandchild, during her senior year. most assumed the baby daddy just forced lori to raise brandon alone (when most still married with a pregnancy), but lori was the one to decide to not marry the baby daddy... considering he didn’t really want to deal with fatherhood... but arthur & lizzie respected lori’s decision instead of forcing marriage upon her. lori’s parents absolutely enjoyed being grandparents too, so they helped her out while she helped out at ellesmere. and she was considered a tomboy by middleburg, spending more time on the farm than her brothers. because she loves horses, so it’s a good fit for her to pretty much run ellesmere on her own. in terms of the four siblings, her & raleigh are actually more in common, where they’re timid in their social lives, have reservation as they observe others (even if they may not do anything about it), but are devoted to their respected causes and helping other people. and of course there’s common traits with her and liz, if only because liz mirrored lori’s interest in horses. 

sharon spencer haynes

even though she’s around ellesmere in the later years of the spencer’s childhood, becoming an accountant for ellesmere, she never got close to them. mainly because robert saw her as a threat since... yeah, she’s smarter than him. she just took raising a family over furthering her education in finance. while she did move away for a decade, she moved back to ellesmere after a divorce with her ex-husband. she kept his last name for the sake of her two kids, nick & shay. she’s absolutely a clean freak and very organized, where she makes liz look unorganized.

danielle spencer wescott