Oh Grandma, What A Lovely House You Have

My family struggles with what I believe to be a genetic hoarding problem. For those who are unfamiliar with this term hoarding is by definition "the excessive acquisition of and inability or unwillingness to discard large quantities of objects that would seemingly qualify as useless or without value". And holy shit it's a terrible terrible disorder. I'm sorry about the language but I am so done with all things hoarding at this point. A few posts ago I mentioned my grandmothers poor health, (she is doing much better now by the way, still doesn't remember me but everyone else she knows all about) due to recent events my parents have decided that she needs to live in a place with more hands on care than what is currently available to her. This decision means moving, which then creates the urge to slit your wrists. I am so certain that my mother is Jesus. You see, those hoarding shows which seem to be gaining popularity as of late are absolutely nothing compared to both of the prior homes she owned that we have cleaned out. Luckily this time around we had a one bedroom apartment. My mom spent hours cleaning every day and my sister and I would come help whenever we could and it is emotionally and physically tolling. (The picture above was taken over halfway through the clean up, which took an entire month mind you.)

It's so sad to see someone live in these conditions. At her last home I found a V8 which was about a decade past its due date and had turned black but my grandma continued to lecture me about how it was still good and she was planning on drinking it as I poured the black goop down the drain. At this apartment I was slightly more fortunate. I found some V8 fruit punch which was only 3 years old! Based on the flavor I guessed that it started as a light pink color. This icky brown really isn't too bad compared to the black stuff I had found prior. All I know is that I will never be able to drink any V8 product after what I've seen.

Another interesting tidbit that I had heard rumors of was that she had been going through the trash and taking other residents mail. I didn't believe this until I had to go through he magazines. Most of which weren't hers or even people I had ever heard her talk about. Chris who?? But alas I guess they were close enough that she felt fine taking his old magazines.

This is the 3rd house my family has worked on. We have at least one more and a storage unit before things are over. I love my grandma but I'm not sure how much more my family can take, especially my poor Mom.