When I was growing up I never knew the word hoarder. The word definition of hoarder is: someone who accumulates things for use of a later date. I just thought my father liked to collect things. He was raised during the depression so he did not like to throw anything away. He would say, "I will use that some day". Some day would never come for a lot of those things. My father would go to the auction barn every Monday and Saturday and bring home more and more. My mother would not say anything. She was raised in the Mountains of Tennessee during the depression. She had a big family and never had more than she actually needed. This made her very appreciative of the things she received no matter how cluttered the house became.
As I grew up, I was given a lot of chores, mostly outside because my dad was a believer of busy hands. One of my chores was to clean the house, of course after I finished with the outside chores. I tried to come up with ideas to make the house less cluttered. I would look at some of the furniture my father would bring home and try to find storage and organizing ideas. Then I would work at the collection he had brought home and find a way to hide it. It became harder every day. I never complained, I would just help him carry in what he had collected each time. Then when I got time to work on hiding it again. My father never missed the items I hid. He was a collector of things but of what things he was not sure. I do like having things stored away and organized so my room was my sanctuary. I could have it as clean and organized as I wanted. I never had to bring his collections to my room unless I wanted too.
After I left home, the hoarder did not stop. The house, barn and field were full of the collector's (my father) finds. The house only had a path to things they really needed to reach. They lived this way until they passed. They were content that way and that was all that mattered.
I do not feel growing up this way injured my adult life. I still like things clean and organized, but I do have two sisters with the same trait as my father. They are collectors of stuff (hoarders). I have tried to help them with my storage and organizing furniture ideas but they always go right back to the clutter.
This article is a true story written by Ava Cummins from Indiana and owner of Storage-Decor.
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