When and how it all began.....

My parents divorced after 11 years of marriage, I was 7. He pretty much divorced me as well. He left us with some furniture and a car that he was supposed to pay the lease on. The car was soon repossessed. We had our own apartment for a short time but he was paying very little support (not on a regular basis and soon he stopped altogether) we had to move in with my mothers parents. Many thanks to grandma and grandpa for taking us in. My mother has always been messy and my father has told me more then once that the poor housekeeping skills along with the fact that she was overweight and refused to take care of herself was the reason he left us.

Most all of our belongings were placed in a storage unit. My mother and I shared a room with two twin beds. Soon she began filling up the room. I had a path to my bed, there were boxes and stuff all around me. I had to climb over my bed to get to my closet. My grandparents were messy as well but not hoarders. I am not aware of any other relatives that suffer from compulsive hoarding. I do not suffer from the condition....thank God! 

We lived in that home for 10 years. My grandmother passed just before my 16th birthday, my mother was very close to her. Two years later my poor grandfather choose to sell his home to pay a debt for a relative. He purchased a mobile home for the three of us to live in. My mother began filling it up along with a storage shed she had outside. He passed away about a year later. As the hording became worse I choose to move out and live with boyfriends in order to get away from the mess. I was finally able to start making it on my own by the age of 28.

The last time I saw the inside of my mothers home was probably about 20 years ago. At that time the place was pretty much a stage 4 hoard. She has not had a refrigerator for about 5 years now. It broke and somehow she had it removed. She expresses no desire to replace it, I assume the area is filled with junk and I doubt they would be able to get it in the house anyway. Her car is also filled to maxim capacity which is a huge embarrassment every time  she comes to visit. It is such a shame how this mental illness has affected our relationship. We would be much closer and spend more time together if this damn hoarding had not gotten in the way.....O how I hate you hoarding disease!!!! Hoarding you better watch out because I am coming after you! I am going to learn everything I can, do what ever it takes and steel my mother back from you.....I hope