My grandmother is 83 years old. She's an extreme hoarder. Her entire house is like this. The room I am trying to conquer is just especially hard because it was the spare bedroom that just became the storage space for lots of things.
With that being said, it has taken me 12 hours to reclaim half of a bedroom that I'm going to eventually be living in. It has also taken a lot of patience from me and cooperation with my grandmother. She has an emotional attachment to things. She also has forgotten what all she has. I'm trying to help her de-clutter. So she can have people in and not feel embarrassed. So I can live with her in case something were to happen.
Today I found something that I think she knows she has, as she fell completely emotionless as soon as I mentioned it. I found a cigar crate. Not a box, a crate full of my grandfather's possessions and things that came after his death. I found his sunglasses, his glasses, the half-used Rolaid package that cost 10cents, his comb, his toothbrush, his bible, his dice, letters to his boss (he was a salesman), the receipt from ordering their 50-something Chevy, just everything that I guess reminded her of him. I've never met my grandfather. He died of a heart attack when my mother was 13. But while I was shifting through all his belongings, I got a little emotional as I felt what my grandmother must have felt losing the love of her life. She never re-married because she didn't believe she could get so lucky as to find a man as great as him.
Just a constructive day thus far. I'm a bit of a pack rat myself so I know how hard it can be to get rid of things. I just do it on a much smaller scale and still trying to cut back on that.
No one is perfect and I am learning everyday.
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