The Great Cleanup

Because this is a major part of our family history we're now sharing that my mother-in-law, Irene, who recently passed away, was a hoarder. Adam also has an adult sister, Heather who is autistic and lives at home, she too hoards because she doesn't know any better.

Months before her passing in July 2023, when Irene had already begun her mental and physical decline, it became apparent the two story home had to be cleaned out for safety and care she would soon need. Consequently, Adam's Dad, Dennis retired immediately. And funds had to be freed that were paying for seven storage units that were housing more of Irene's collections. And also by then, Heather had hoarded herself out of both beds in two of the rooms available to her. She was sleeping in a small space on the floor.

I'm sharing this because through a level of understanding and love—it's OKAY. We took care of the impossible (Adam's siblings deserve most of the credit) THIS work is behind us. Whatever troubled Mom and led to her hoarding and inability to seek change...is now being healed on the other side. The family is doing their best to help Heather understand how to live a better life. And Dennis is looking forward to a fresh start in a soon-to-be renovated home with an attached apartment for Heather.

This post isn't meant to shame or shock anyone. It is simply to record the crazy reality of a family who has to deal with the physical situation of a massive hoard. It is what it is. (It is emotional too...but this is not the place to talk about it.)

The family held TWO FULLY stocked estate sales at Larissa's home, a week apart. The first sale was everything from the storage units. The second was everything from the house. (All items were packed and hauled across town for the sale. Everyone worked from morning until late nights throughout the two/three weeks. It was an impossible amount of work, we each found our limitations, and injuries were sustained from the sheer repetitive volume of heavy lifting.) 

 

I wish there was a way to have monetized some of Irene's collection—but how do you with the collection the size of SEVEN storage units and a full house? No one could have spared the amount of time needed to help Irene start a business, she wasn't tech savvy enough run it herself, and then there would have been the related expenses. I think she probably felt utterly stuck as did we, and as most hoarders she was ultimately unable to share, rent, give away, or sell any amount that would have put a dent in the problem. I can only imagine how she must have felt.

When it came to it, the ONLY options were to pay someone to haul everything away (which also turned out to be complicated) walk away and pay a fee (didn't solve the house problem though) or try to sell as much as possible to help Dennis with expenses. 

It was decided to sell.

There was a ton of glass in one of the units. Beautiful pieces I had never seen before (above). Milk glass was going for $1 per piece! Buyers felt bad paying so little, but it had to go. Other's got an even better deal for bulk purchasing. 

The glass was so heavy, the truck was over its weight limit each trip.

Watch the video in YouTube for better quality.

(I would have loved one of these jars to put my lemon tree in. But they are worth A LOT.)

I pulled so much Tupperware out of the house...there was no way to display it except to lay it out along the front of the property. It became what Heidi called, "The Great Tupperware Reef."

Below are boxes of snack sets. (This isn't all of them.) I was offered some, and now I have a collection for full service! Thank you Irene!

You can't tell how much of something there actually is...

...until you get it organized.

Many people asked how Irene was doing with the clean up. Thankfully, by then she wasn't fully herself. She was mostly unable to process what was going on. But she did still have some fun and tried on her high school cheerleader outfit for us.

We are ALL thankful for this tender mercy. Had she comprehended the finality of stuff leaving her house, the job would have been far more emotional and difficult than it already was. And there were other trials, such as managing Heather and the city pouring a new concrete road right in front of the house. Seriously!?!

 

Irene often asked to be with us for a short time as we were working or eating as seen below. (Left to right: Heidi, Laurel, and Irene) She would just watch and make comments from time to time and was very pleasant.

Below are a few images of the house before it was cleaned out. This is the room Heather was sleeping in.

Below was the view from the kitchen into a formal dining room.

Below was the kitchen.

Below was the view standing in the same spot as above, looking the other way into the informal dining and family room.

Below is an after image. We sat as a family and supped together for the first time in this house since Adam and I have lived here. I cried. It was wonderful and I know it meant a lot to Dennis and everyone else.

Watch a short video of the family celebrating Dad's birthday in a clean home. Watch in YouTube for better quality.

I took this photo of Dennis after we had swept out a storage unit and asked him to, "show me how you're feeling!"

(Note to self: Move to January 2023)