Hoarders - General Discussion

[DC Gal in VA]

2 minutes ago, Pepper Mostly said:

I just thought that Linda wore him and the rest of the family down and he agreed to do whatever she wanted just to shut her up. They don't want her back in their house, and probably don't have the money to place her in a care facility or assisted living. What choice do they have? It sucks, but these aren't wealthy people, they don't have many options.

Thanks. That makes sense as to the repairs. Of course, if he didn't exactly know what he was doing I'd like to imagine something like the final scene of the original movie Poltergeist when the house starts glowing and then just folds in on itself until ***POOF*** it's gone, with her bat shit crazy ass in it! Problems solved! 😆😈

[CrazyInAlabama]

My guess, the family is doing the minimum fix ups, so Linda will stop bothering them.   There is nothing they can do about her, and with her health issues, moving back into that toxic environment that she created, will probably end the situation from one too many health crises.     Or there will be one too many wind storms, and the house will fall right over, or cave in from the floor joists collapsing, and that will be the end too. 

[terrymct]

1 hour ago, Pepper Mostly said:

Linda whining "I've been in this house since 1978!" put me over the edge. She had no self awareness at all, seemed to simply not comprehend what was being said to her. What a mess. 

Oh, that was clear once everyone realized that she's been crapping on the living room floor for years and doesn't see a thing wrong with it.

[DC Gal in VA]

13 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

My guess, the family is doing the minimum fix ups, so Linda will stop bothering them.   There is nothing they can do about her, and with her health issues, moving back into that toxic environment that she created, will probably end the situation from one too many health crises.     Or there will be one too many wind storms, and the house will fall right over, or cave in from the floor joists collapsing, and that will be the end too. 

That sounds just fine with me.

Heh heh, of course since I am pure evil, any and all scenarios like that always end the same way: with her bat shit crazy ass in it! The end.

[Jennv]

I don't get how they managed to put her back in the house without the city getting involved and condemning it. In my neighborhood if your grass grows a half inch to tall you have a citation the next day. And I live in the hood, y'all. 

[DC Gal in VA]

14 minutes ago, Jennv said:

I don't get how they managed to put her back in the house without the city getting involved and condemning it. In my neighborhood if your grass grows a half inch to tall you have a citation the next day. And I live in the hood, y'all. 

Yes! That's what I don't get. How could they personally decide to move her back in the house on their own? Every expert said the same thing: the house was unsafe and uninhabitable. Even a small municipality like that one must have some kind of code enforcement which would have to inspect any repairs made and only then make the decision on whether it's safe and up to code or condemn it.

[Lizz]

Linda really tried every ounce of compassion I have and after the treatment of the dogs and the grandchildren, it was gone. I seem to have missed the last screen that she had moved back in the house. I thought the house would have been condemned by the city but the fact that she thinks it’s just fine....let her have it. 

I can’t blame dementia since she’s been toxic since raising her daughter.  She kept blaming depression but what kind of depression makes you poop/pee in the floor or in a cup in front of your grandchildren.  I wonder why CPS didn’t remove those kids when they were called?  If there was no one else, Angela could have seen that they went to foster care; she knew the situation and anything would be better.  

I think the professionals did a good job considering what they were dealing with. One of the worst and that’s saying a lot. 

[BookWoman56]

On 3/19/2019 at 10:02 AM, CrazyInAlabama said:

Years ago, it was horrible to inherit a hoard like the ones on the show.    There were few resources, and you had to search around to find clean out help, and haul away services.   

Like Dale's son said, clean up now and don't leave this for me to do.   I wonder how many people find out after the hoarder is deceased, that they have inherited a hoard that will eat up the entire estate in clean up, and any buildings on the property are tear downs.   

Now there are junk removal companies, and others like Matt Paxton's company that handle clean out, auction, and other services for inherited estates.      I have read 1 in 25 households are some type of hoard, so it's a problem that a lot of people will be facing in the future,  the clean up of other people's garbage.     

I watch snippets of this show occasionally precisely because there’s about a 50% chance my daughter will have to deal with this scenario when her father dies at some point. He inherited a house free and clear from his aunt, which he has turned into a mess. He started hoarding books, initially to sell online, which lasted roughly a year when I was handling sales and inventory, and had the collectible books in my house, shelved and organized by inventory number. I quit doing that for various reasons, and those collectibles went back to his house to join the stacks of books that have taken over various rooms in his house. He goes to thrift shops a few times a week and gets books, VHS movies, and just miscellaneous stuff that he intends either for his personal use or to sell, neither of which is going to happen. Neither my daughter nor I have been in his house in about 5 years, and at that point some of the books were stacked dangerously high. He is not BSC in the sense of taking a dump on the floor, but neither is he stable, which has not been helped by his substance abuse. He sucks at cleaning, and the only reason his house is not a health hazard is that he will find some woman at a bar, usually meth addict or something similar, and offer her free lodging in one of the two extra bedrooms in exchange for general cleaning. 

If the house comes to my daughter, which is a big assumption that he doesn’t use it as collateral for a loan that he then defaults on, she has already decided that she will just call one of those companies that say they will buy houses in any condition, and let them deal with the mess. There’s no way she would be willing to sort through all the junk. Worst case, she can get a local junk removal crew to deal with hauling off everything and then sell the house as is to a local house flipper. 

[DC Gal in VA]

28 minutes ago, BookWoman56 said:

I watch snippets of this show occasionally precisely because there’s about a 50% chance my daughter will have to deal with this scenario when her father dies at some point. He inherited a house free and clear from his aunt, which he has turned into a mess. He started hoarding books, initially to sell online, which lasted roughly a year when I was handling sales and inventory, and had the collectible books in my house, shelved and organized by inventory number. I quit doing that for various reasons, and those collectibles went back to his house to join the stacks of books that have taken over various rooms in his house. He goes to thrift shops a few times a week and gets books, VHS movies, and just miscellaneous stuff that he intends either for his personal use or to sell, neither of which is going to happen. Neither my daughter nor I have been in his house in about 5 years, and at that point some of the books were stacked dangerously high. He is not BSC in the sense of taking a dump on the floor, but neither is he stable, which has not been helped by his substance abuse. He sucks at cleaning, and the only reason his house is not a health hazard is that he will find some woman at a bar, usually meth addict or something similar, and offer her free lodging in one of the two extra bedrooms in exchange for general cleaning. 

If the house comes to my daughter, which is a big assumption that he doesn’t use it as collateral for a loan that he then defaults on, she has already decided that she will just call one of those companies that say they will buy houses in any condition, and let them deal with the mess. There’s no way she would be willing to sort through all the junk. Worst case, she can get a local junk removal crew to deal with hauling off everything and then sell the house as is to a local house flipper. 

Sweet Jesus! Okay, regarding the bolded part, sorry but if this isn't the description of an episode of Hoarders I don't know what is.

Please let us know when your daughter's dad's episode airs. 😊

[terrymct]

1 hour ago, Jennv said:

I don't get how they managed to put her back in the house without the city getting involved and condemning it. In my neighborhood if your grass grows a half inch to tall you have a citation the next day. And I live in the hood, y'all. 

Hopefully now that the show airs that will change.  That said, that town doesn't look like the most affluent place.  They may be slightly short on inspectors.

[Cherry Cola]

Oh those poor kids, having to go to school stinky.  School is bad enough as it is. What makes a person pee and poop in a cup...in front of people?! Who does that? Hopefully only Linda. And obviously this hs been going on for years. Did you catch the line at the beginning...the dog pees and poops on the floor, why can't she? Huh??? 

The animal treatment was very upsetting as well. I have never heard of chained animals IN a house.  Outside chaining is mean as it is...but inside?

[Natalie68]

7 hours ago, Jeeves said:

It's early the morning after. I kind of wish I hadn't watched this show last night. What a protracted fustercluck it was.

Linda was profoundly mentally ill *and* abusive to people and animals and houses and pretty much everyone and everything around her. As a lifelong pattern, as far as I could tell.

The level of sickness was such that fairly early in the cleanup, Dr. Tonya Harding and St. Dorothy weren't hanging back and asking the hoarder's permission. After they got a handle on the actual situation, they were laying down the law to her. Nicely. But still. My respect for Dr. Tonya rose a lot and I went from liking Dorothy to loving her. 

The literally last-minute BSOD notice that Linda moved back into her house after all was a jaw-dropper. So now Linda's just further embedded in her lunacy: "see, they told me I couldn't move back into my house, but I DID IT. They were wrong. I'm right." OTOH she's not inflicting her awful self and floor-poops on her daughter. 

What I really fear is that Linda will manage to "rescue" some more dogs and chain them to the wall. 

I hope and pray those two grandchildren of hers will thrive and prosper and have good lives. They seemed like good well-functionoing people, after enduring things that could have turned them into basket cases.

I JUST turned it on and just at the intros.  I spied someone walking barefoot in that mess!  JESUS!  Not sure I can do this but am intrigued...

[atlantaloves]

You know it is too bad there are not any more insane asylums, because that is where that witch belongs, in a cemented room, (because she would ruin a padded cell), chain her to the wall and she can just shit and piss her way to glory. That was the worst episode ever, Dr. Tonya should have found a nut house for her to go to.   She is dangerous to herself. I had to fast forward through most of it. God, I don't think I can watch this show in the future, and I use to really kinda enjoy it. They have really topped themselves having a hoarder that craps on the floor when they actually have a bathroom. What's next a shit eater?

[Natalie68]

6 minutes ago, atlantaloves said:

You know it is too bad there are not any more insane asylums, because that is where that witch belongs, in a cemented room, (because she would ruin a padded cell), chain her to the wall and she can just shit and piss her way to glory. That was the worst episode ever, Dr. Tonya should have found a nut house for her to go to.   She is dangerous to herself. I had to fast forward through most of it. God, I don't think I can watch this show in the future, and I use to really kinda enjoy it. They have really topped themselves having a hoarder that craps on the floor when they actually have a bathroom. What's next a shit eater?

I am sure everything this woman owned had a layer of shit on it so I am gonna say this one is pretty damn close.

[atlantaloves]

Natalie: Know what, you are right....she probably just goes yum yum yum while she is petting her beloved dogs on chains.👌

[calpurnia99]

• I just started watching and why the State put the kids into that house?Then they checked on it and the stupid mother KNEW they were living there and says "I don't want my kids in foster care I'd rather have them living in filth and rats than in a clean foster home".  I could not understand a word the daughter was saying i had to turn the subtitles on. It was sort of the accent but more the words running into each other. 

[Natalie68]

4 minutes ago, atlantaloves said:

Natalie: Know what, you are right....she probably just goes yum yum yum while she is petting her beloved dogs on chains.👌

I KNOW this woman has mental issues yet I can't NOT hate her.  What she did to those kids and those animals is heartbreaking.  This show has shown some really gross things but I think this tops them all.  That is saying something.

[Chaos Theory]

Although I think the two hours is too long for a single hoarder I always felt the two hoarders one hour format was far too short.   You basically saw their shit filled house then the comercial ended poof it was shiny and new again.   Wait what?  

Edited March 20, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[calpurnia99]

I'm kind of wanting a cleaner hoarder who goes around in the world like a normal person like a teacher but has a house filled to the sky. These last 3 shows you look at the hoarder and they are clearly severely mentally ill. It's really getting boring the mentally ill person who lives in a garbage dump. 

[Chaos Theory]

The sad fact is good assisted living costs money and the plot of land wasn’t worth much.  It might have actually been cheaper to fix what they could a little at a time and hire some by the hour to take care of Linda and a cleaning service to make sure the house at least got cleaned once a week.  

[kittyglitter]

I feel nothing but rage toward Linda. Dementia my ass. Yes, she’s seriously mentally ill, but she uses being dotty and confused as a way to be manipulative as hell. She knew exactly what she was doing. Once your mental illness causes you to harmfully neglect innocent children and animals, it has become a greater societal problem that should require you to get treatment and not have guardianship over any living creature until treatment has proven effective.

The health and safety of children and pets supersedes any right you have to keep children and pets in a poop and cockroach palace. I have fostered cats from hoarding situations. My dear friends are fostering a human child from a neglectful situation involving a mentally ill parent. You do not have the right to harm others, period, mental illness or not.

Linda will be found dead in the hoard someday. I just hope she doesn’t take any innocent beings with her.

[enoughcats]

3 hours ago, terrymct said:

that town doesn't look like the most affluent place.  They may be slightly short on inspectors.

And that town is about half way between Indianapolis and Cincinnatti, and all Linda would have to do is contact elder services there, get a pro bono lawyer to protect "the house she's lived in for forty years, that she took her grandchildren in when no one else could......and about three more pages of lies, and the town would be facing lawsuits out the ying yang.  Could the town begin to afford the litigation a lawyer could bring?  Because Linda knows how to play the system . While I was typing Kittyglitter wrote this

1 minute ago, kittyglitter said:

but she uses being dotty and confused as a way to be manipulative as hell. She knew exactly what she was doing.

53 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

Although I think the two hours is too long for a single hoarder I always felt the two hoarders one hour format was far too short

Would we have this understanding of Linda If we'd only had ten minutes of her background?  Possibly not.  She sounded so sincere.

So many of the shorter episodes left me wondering what the story really was.  Linda, the poor widow woman with all the children and grandchildren in the house she loved for forty years.  

I resent her mindless treatment of animals because my mind really has trouble grasping her treatment of human beings in her own family. 

[3girlsforus]

7 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Plus, from the father's (Linda's husband) obituary, there are a bunch of other kids in the family, and Kristen (or whatever her name is) is the only one who showed up for this.   

This doesn’t surprise me at all. I guarantee Linda controls her daughter with guilt. I bet it’s a constant barrage of “it was so hard caring for your kids while you were in prison’. You could see Kristen was eaten alive by the guilt over what  her kids had to endure while she was in prison I’m sure her mother uses that to her advantage. It’s probably how she convinced Kristen’s husband to do repairs on the house and have her move back in there, which I’m sure they are paying for. I agree that moving her back in with them wasn’t an option so she probably whined, complained, and guilted them into getting her back in the house instead of a care place. 

That woman doesn’t have dementia. She is cruel, evil, and manipulative. I’m sure she has mental issues, but she knows exactly what she’s doing and does it anyway. No sympathy for her from me. 

Edited to add - I’m a little upset to find out Kristen has siblings. Where the hell were they when those kids needed a guardian? They had to know that was a shit house. I’m sure they were angry at Kristen for getting arrested but that isn’t the kids’ fault. Couldn’t one of them helped out and kept those kids from living like that? I don’t blame them for bailing on BSC mom but those kids needed someone. 

Edited March 20, 2019 by 3girlsforus

[atlantaloves]

Yeah, for someone who is suppose to be so senile, she sure could come up with lies very quickly....I HAVE ALWAYS HAD TROUBLE with my bowels...MY ASS....everybody does at one time or another, but they don't shit on the clean bathroom floor that your poor daughter gave you, you worthless snake. They don't poop and pee in a cup in front of children either.  THIS WAS THE WORST.....she really needs to just die.

[ChicagoCita]

Does anyone have an idea of how old Linda is? She had such a flat affect and such unfocused eyes that it was hard to tell.

[atlantaloves]

Yeah, let's find out old that poopie troll is....I bet she is a lot younger than me, and honey I'm old...but fabulous, of course.

[auntjess]

On 3/19/2019 at 8:43 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

I can't believe that the workers shoveled human feces, and it all went in regular dumpsters, and not to Haz-mat.      How can the organizers and producers have people working with nothing but flimsy masks, and gloves.     

When they discovered the human feces, the bulldozers should have been called in.  Seriously.
I can't understand how/why no one could find a better home for those kids, when Kristen was in jail.  Hell, put a monitor on her and put her on house arrest, but don't make any child live in those conditions.
And she lived in Indiana, Greensburg I think.

[auntjess]

14 hours ago, DC Gal in VA said:

Lastly, I don't recall seeing any local code enforcement reps. Didn't the local authorities have any say so about her moving back into the house?

We've never seen one in a place with NO enforcement, that I remember.

[CoyoteBlue]

My favorite bit was when they asked the granddaughter about the crap on the floor, the granddaughter casually says "Oh, yeah, it's her shit." and the girl behind her immediately looks at her gloved, dirty hand and kinda goes eeeeeew and holds it out like "where the hell is the disinfectant? what did I get myself into?"

Edited March 21, 2019 by CoyoteBlue

[Lillith]

I'm not surprised they let her back in the house after cleaning it up. She's toxic and nuts. Would you want her in your home pooping on your floor? She clearly belongs in a facility but I suspect these people don't have the money and may not want her in a state run place. Like other posters I noticed her flat affect. But from the sound of it she was just a shitty person and having mental issues was just a cherry on the cake.  I feel sorry for most of the hoarders to a degree but could muster no sympathy for her. Her daughter and grandkids however I have a great deal of sympathy for. 

[funky-rat]

15 hours ago, calpurnia99 said:

• I just started watching and why the State put the kids into that house?Then they checked on it and the stupid mother KNEW they were living there and says "I don't want my kids in foster care I'd rather have them living in filth and rats than in a clean foster home".  I could not understand a word the daughter was saying i had to turn the subtitles on. It was sort of the accent but more the words running into each other. 

It may have been marginally better when the kids were there, ie: cluttered, but not filthy.  The granddaughter said the toilet was working, and she was peeing/pooping in cups, and dumping them outside.  My late step-father-in-law lived in a disgusting hoarded up doublewide with 14 cats - you could smell it outside.  He had visiting nurses through the VA that would come in.  My husband and his brother were thrilled because we thought this would be the end - we had an animal rescue lined up to come get the cats that promised they would not be put down.  The nurse made a comment or two about the condition of the home.  Late SFIL responded that if she didn't like it, she was free to clean it (note: my brother in law tried MANY times and would go in when SFIL was in the hospital and clean as well as he could, but it was a losing battle).  The nurse dropped it, and said nothing further.  It happens more often than you think.

[Minivanessa]

I think the house should have been condemned by the town government (or county, or whoever has jurisdiction), which would mean that Linda could move back in only after code inspectors had approved lifting the condemnation. And I'm the one who fantasized about flamethrowers as I watched that mess on my TV. 

But, here's a reality check on just how lengthy, complicated, and expensive it can be for a town to take action against a private residential structure that's hoarded/rundown to the point of being a nuisance and unsafe for habitation: https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/littleton-neighbors-believe-man-burned-his-own-home-as-city-considers-demolition/73-4e04e737-73da-4066-85f9-853ab51196e6

The case has been going on for something like 12 years, the house was condemned, and in January the board heard FOUR HOURS of testimony on whether it should order the house demolished. Neighbors had experienced rat infestations emanating from the hoard house and some feared the homeowner. The board's order was expected to be issued yesterday, and day before yesterday the house burned. Neighbors suspect the homeowner torched it.

Latest news is that the homeowner's whereabouts are unknown. Oh, and in an interesting quirk of fate? The house fire was called in to 911 earlier than it would normally have been. Because the PIO of the fire district lives in the neighborhood. His wife was returning home in the early morning hours from her 911 dispatch job and saw a smoky haze in the neighborhood, so she and the PIO went looking for - and found - the fire. FB story here: https://www.facebook.com/SouthMetroFireRescue/videos/530155530842817/

As easy as it is for me to sit in front of my TV and say, the city should condemn and demolish a house, it's rarely simple, straightforward, or prompt to do that. Think, years of proceedings and quite a bit of local government resources taken up by the case. 

Edited March 21, 2019 by Jeeves

[Galloway Cave]

I was a little stunned by the BSOJ stating a visiting nurse reported the home was OK to live in. Just the feces/urine smell alone should be a clue that the place isn't sanitary enough for someone to live in. 

[funky-rat]

11 minutes ago, Galloway Cave said:

I was a little stunned by the BSOJ stating a visiting nurse reported the home was OK to live in. Just the feces/urine smell alone should be a clue that the place isn't sanitary enough for someone to live in. 

See my post above.  Visiting VA nurse commented on late Step Father In Law's cat pee/poop/puke encrusted house, and never did anything further when he said she could clean it herself if she didn't like it.  Those people are overworked and underpaid, and the people they report to are as well.  Nothing would probably get done anyway.  😢

[Carolina Girl]

I need to ask one question before I even summon the courage to view this.  Are there scene with injured, dead or abused animals found at the bottom of the hoard and filth?  I cannot abide an animal being abused and I just would appreciate fair warning.  I'm reading about chains, and hooks and I saw a scene where people are saying "OH NO!" and my immediate thought was "oh my god a dead animal!"

Any head's up would be appreciated.

[funky-rat]

4 minutes ago, Carolina Girl said:

I need to ask one question before I even summon the courage to view this.  Are there scene with injured, dead or abused animals found at the bottom of the hoard and filth?  I cannot abide an animal being abused and I just would appreciate fair warning.  I'm reading about chains, and hooks and I saw a scene where people are saying "OH NO!" and my immediate thought was "oh my god a dead animal!"

Any head's up would be appreciated.

There were no dead animals.  There was some disturbing talk about chained up animals, and they show the rusty chains and the unsanitary conditions the dogs lived in.  There was some talk about the collar being imbedded in the skin, but you are spared actual disturbing visual of the animals themselves.

[enoughcats]

9 minutes ago, funky-rat said:

14 minutes ago, Carolina Girl said:

I need to ask one question before I even summon the courage to view this.  Are there scene with injured, dead or abused animals found at the bottom of the hoard and filth?  I cannot abide an animal being abused and I just would appreciate fair warning.  I'm reading about chains, and hooks and I saw a scene where people are saying "OH NO!" and my immediate thought was "oh my god a dead animal!"

Any head's up would be appreciated.

There were no dead animals.  There was some disturbing talk about chained up animals, and they show the rusty chains and the unsanitary conditions the dogs lived in.  There was some talk about the collar being imbedded in the skin, but you are spared actual disturbing visual of the animals themselves.

The dogs that were looking good were living with Linda's daughter. 
As they shoveled the hoard crap out, they found more chains attached to the wall and close to the bottom, there was a very old chain with collar attached and some debris maybe associated with it but no longer recognizable. You might want to fast forward through that part. 

[Carolina Girl]

26 minutes ago, enoughcats said:

The dogs that were looking good were living with Linda's daughter. 
As they shoveled the hoard crap out, they found more chains attached to the wall and close to the bottom, there was a very old chain with collar attached and some debris maybe associated with it but no longer recognizable. You might want to fast forward through that part. 

My thanks to all of you who responded to my request.  This is why I love these forums.  And appreciate all of you!

[JudyObscure]

Carolina Girl's baby already looks like she's  seen one too many Hoarders episodes.

[suev3333]

Just watched Linda's episode........there are no words. 😔

[ams1001]

2 hours ago, suev3333 said:

Just watched Linda's episode........there are no words. 😔

Just started it on demand; ten minutes in. Glad I read this thread so I am prepared...I plan to watch the first hour, then Jeopardy, then another half hour, then Grey's Anatomy, then the end. I think I'll need a break or two (also I'm just watching around other stuff).

[atlantaloves]

Carolina Girl: I am a die hard Hoarders fan, and honey I wish I had never seen this episode. It made me boiling mad, and ill. Word to the wise my friend. We are here to protect ya!

[ams1001]

Thoughts on Linda's episode...

• It's terrible to say, but when they said (paraphrasing), "stuff can be replaced; you can't be replaced," I thought, "would they want to replace her?"
• Why on earth would you wear white pants to go clean up a filthy hoarder house (Dorothy)? I also don't understand the women with long hair going into this endeavor with their hair down and loose (Kristen, Shawntae).
• I laughed at their half-assed coverup of the Starbucks logo on the cup Linda was holding. They couldn't afford two strips of tape? (Or did they use it all up on the grandson's sweatshirt? Why not just tell people not to wear clothes with visible logos?)
• With all the mention of mouse and fly waste, how did it not come up until Day 2 that they knew grandma pooped on the floor?
• They should have had one of those decontamination shower tents outside. I hope they all just threw out their clothes and shoes after this.
• I don't think Linda knows what the word "clutter" means.
• Did I hear correctly, there were trees growing in the wall? I've heard of mushrooms growing in leaking walls, but trees?!
• Is it really necessary to come back from commercial and replay part of the same scene from before the commercial?

[auntjess]

13 hours ago, Galloway Cave said:

I was a little stunned by the BSOJ stating a visiting nurse reported the home was OK to live in. Just the feces/urine smell alone should be a clue that the place isn't sanitary enough for someone to live in. 

I took that to mean that she had visited the home after all the cleaning and whatever repairs they did, were done, right before she moved back in.

[bettylou]

On 3/20/2019 at 9:45 PM, auntjess said:

When they discovered the human feces, the bulldozers should have been called in.  Seriously.
I can't understand how/why no one could find a better home for those kids, when Kristen was in jail.  Hell, put a monitor on her and put her on house arrest, but don't make any child live in those conditions.
And she lived in Indiana, Greensburg I think.

I believe they said that they wanted to put the kids in foster homes.   But the mother refused or something. 

[bettylou]

On 3/20/2019 at 8:11 PM, ChicagoCita said:

Does anyone have an idea of how old Linda is? She had such a flat affect and such unfocused eyes that it was hard to tell.

I'll guess late 60's.  She had fairly nice skin, that's how I made my guess. 

[BookWoman56]

On 3/21/2019 at 11:29 AM, funky-rat said:

See my post above.  Visiting VA nurse commented on late Step Father In Law's cat pee/poop/puke encrusted house, and never did anything further when he said she could clean it herself if she didn't like it.  Those people are overworked and underpaid, and the people they report to are as well.  Nothing would probably get done anyway.  😢

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this lack of follow-up, but my experience with VA staff has been quite different. My mother is entitled to some special VA benefits because my late father was in the military during WW2, and there's some kind of special provision to give widows in this category extra money to help with things like assisted living or just regular household expenses. My mother was in an assisted living facility in FL when her benefits began a couple of years ago, but for various reasons I ended up moving her into my house in TX not quite a year ago. After the move, the VA called me to set up an inspection for the next day, so they could see her living conditions. The guy who came was super nice and wrote a glowing report of the situation; they much prefer to see people in a family house rather than assisted living. And while I'm not a compulsive cleaner or anything, my house is generally clean and pretty much free of clutter; I try to live with a 30-minutes rule, that is, if somebody called me and said they'd be at my house in 30  minutes, I'd be well able to do any minor cleaning/putting away of stuff within that 30-minute window and not be humiliated by the state of my house when the visitor arrived. That said, though, if my house had even begun to approach the level of hoarding and filth on this show, I feel certain the VA rep would have had me charged with elder abuse or something. But this particular VA program is relatively small and so I'm assuming the staff are not overloaded the way a visiting nurse would be.

ETA: After the VA inspector came, my mother was asking why he'd had to come inspect the house, so I had to explain they wanted to make sure I wasn't using her VA money on meth and keeping her chained to a bed in filth. 

Edited March 23, 2019 by BookWoman56

[MoldySpiceGirl]

23 hours ago, ams1001 said:

• Did I hear correctly, there were trees growing in the wall? I've heard of mushrooms growing in leaking walls, but trees?!

Yeah, it happens.  Especially in old houses.  Some tree saplings send up what look like vines that will find any window or crack in the foundation or, in a friend of mine's case, the hole left when they took cable TV out, and will grow right inside.  And they literally grow like a foot a day sometimes.

It doesn't surprise me they were in Linda's place, what with the cracks and all that tasty tasty nitrogen in the carpet.  (gack.)

[AZChristian]

On 3/20/2019 at 6:32 AM, CrazyInAlabama said:

My personal view is Linda doesn't have dementia, unless she's had it for her child's entire life, since the woman was always a hoarder.     I think Linda's just mean, rotten, and cruel.  

This episode triggered me back to life with my female birth vessel.  A loving mother or grandmother would NOT allow her children / grandchildren to suffer in this type of environment.  Linda (like my FBV) is just mean, rotten, and cruel.  And once again - she got her way.  So there's no reason for her to ever change.

My heart was breaking for her daughter, who was trying so hard to help someone who didn't want help . . . she just wanted control.

[atlantaloves]

And Linda was an evil liar....just a total creep who shits on the floor.