HARLAN COUNTY, KENTUCKY

Townsperson

RAEANNE BLACKBURN

Full Name:  Raeanne Leigh Blackburn

Age:  Twenty-two

Marital Status:  Divorced

S.O./Spourse:  n/a

Parents:  Raymond & Lana Blackburn

Siblings:  n/a

 

Personal History:

Knowing she was the only child he and his wife would ever have, Rae's old man decided to make the most of it, naming her after himself and giving her the best of both worlds in that she not only grew up playing with dolls and dressing up, but her father made sure she knew a thing or two about cars, sports and weapons, all of which would backfire on him.

While he'd hoped it would bring them closer together, it only served to tear them apart when all was said and done, as it only made her more appealing to the young men in town, especially when she entered her teens and proved she was more than capable of turning heads.

By the time she was sixteen, Rae had dropped out of school and was taking off to the West Coast, looking to escape Kentucky with her boyfriend who promised bigger and better things. Older than her and from the wrong side of the proverbial tracks, he'd been someone her parents hadn't approved of, but never one to take no for an answer or be told what to do, Rae ended up marrying him in spite. The relationship lasted a total of five years. 

On her twenty-first birthday, not only did she receive her GED, but she was granted a divorce. With age, came wisdom and she'd finally realized her parents had been right, but by then it was too late. Rae had barely reconnected with them when she got the call that they were killed in a car accident, making the reunion she hoped for impossible. Instead, she was returning to a double funeral and to find herself with a decision to make: Should she stick around and call Harlan home again, or should she sell everything that had been left to her and take the money and run? Only time would tell.