Gross! Mummified oppossum...etc. and a good deed.

[syncroid]

I was helping my wife and her business partner clean out a house for their client today. She is a Realtor. Her client is an elderly man that has had a stroke and can't do it himself. His house? Well think of the TV show "Hoarders". The house was frozen in time since at least 1968. Original carpet, paint, wall paper, and more.
I was cleaning out all the crap that was stored under a deck. Boxes and boxes of magazines. Everything infested with termites and rats. Any way, I'm crawling on my hands and knees through piles of leaves and who knows what else when my left knee "crunched" into something that didn't quite feel right. I look down and see that I had just crushed the ribcage of a mummified oppossum. That puppy had been there so long, it had no hair left on it. If you held it by the end of the tail and lifted it up, it would have stood straight out.
We filled one and a half 20 cubic yard dumpsters with old rat turd infested junk! Unbelievable! I couldn't wait to get home and take a shower and get that funk off of me.

[redstrosekNic]

You have to include some pictures...lol

[syncroid]

Originally Posted by redstrosekNic

You have to include some pictures...lol

Didn't have the cam present. Still have a week till he has to be out. I'm sure my work is not done. Will photo the stiff if I have to go back. God help! NO!

[redstrosekNic]

Funny. I would actually enjoy helping people sort through their lives. As an accounting major, I would like to eventually start some sort of business, partnering with someone who specializes in the psychological aspect of hoarding. I would handle the physical organizational solutions and my partner could handle the people. The GF is majoring in Social Work, so we might make something happen eventually...

Hoarding fascinates me for some reason.

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by syncroid

of a mummified oppossum.

Hehe, just add water and you have your very own oppossum.

[targa911S]

every time I hear a story about a stroke victim like this I reflect and say "there but for the grace of God and my friends on Pelican, go I" ....sigh..

[syncroid]

David, You indeed are a lucky man! You sought help immediately. I'm glad you are still here and in good health.

This gentleman lived like this even before his stroke. Not something I could do myself.

redstrosekNic, I did enjoy helping him. I just don't understand the whole hoarding behavior or why someone would choose to live in filth.

God bless my wife! She went above and beyond. Most realtors would collect their check when the deal closes and never look back. Not her. She has been over there every other day packing up his things for him and moving them to his new place. She and her partner even purchased a couch and recliner for him for his new place.

.....back to the oppossum.... "Just add water." Now that sir, is funny!

[azasadny]

I hope you were weRing a mask or spmething to prevent breathing that crap into your lungs!

[redstrosekNic]

Originally Posted by syncroid

redstrosekNic, I did enjoy helping him. I just don't understand the whole hoarding behavior or why someone would choose to live in filth.

I didn't mean for my comment to sound as if you didn't enjoy helping. Sorry for the poor wording. I do not understand hoarding either, but I think it might be interesting to help people that suffer from the psychological issues that cause it. I used to think that hoarding was simply laziness, but it is much deeper than that.