Girls Write Out
Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Every week I tell myself I'm not going to watch "Hoarders" and every week it tapes, and like a lemming, I fall into its trap. So last night's was very difficult. Father and son were hoarders. Father was now dead at 91 and lived in filth until his dying days. In the son's defense, he was incredibly mentally ill.

His brother came to get the house cleaned up and "help" his brother. But the brother was a slime of the worst degree. Where was his concern when daddy was dying in filth? Where was he when the mentally ill brother was caring for his father? Nowhere. He didn't come around until the million dollar estate was up for grabs. And guess what? Daddy had left the house to the mentally ill brother, which drove the "sane" brother crazy.

I think it should be LAW that if you care for your ailing parent, you get the house. Period. Have you ever cared for someone dying? It is backbreaking, painful work, and if you're not there, you don't get the house. I think inheritance is disgusting, the traits it brings out in people is the worst of humanity. Inheritance is not yours. It's just not. It's someone else's money and they can spend it any way they like. So get your dirty paws off!

In my opinion, the "mentally ill" brother on the show had a heart, he cared for his father the best way he knew how. If you had ANY feelings at all for your father, the "sane brother" would have intervened. But he was nowhere to be seen until the estate was up for grabs.

People need to work and make their own money. Some awful parents use their legacy as a way to control from the grave too. SO I'm here to say, I'm against inheritance. I'd rather have it all gone anyway -- my grandfather was 95 yesterday. Spend it Grandpa!! Spend every last cent and enjoy the fruits of your labor!
Kristin  
posted at 11:59 AM  
  Comments (9)
 
 
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9 Comments:
At 12:25 PM, Blogger Diann Hunt said...

I agree. Earthly inheritance brings out the ugly in people. I say people should spend their own money, have enough left over to cover expenses and forget it.

Our true inheritance--with the Lord--is all that matters!

 
At 1:15 PM, Blogger Hannah Alexander said...

Agreed. It's a hideous thing to see families split apart because of greed at the end of a life. It betrays the memory of the loved one.

 
At 1:17 PM, Blogger Timothy Fish said...

I'm not sure I can agree with the he who cares for the parents gets the house thing. I'm afraid that in some families it would result in people who are the most greedy "caring" for the parents. There's also the problem that one person may have done more for them before they were dying, but the person at the end gets the reward. Sometimes it seems like it would be easier if there were no inheritance, but the Bible says to leave one.

 
At 4:48 PM, Blogger Hannah Alexander said...

I think it all depends on the situation. I think the situation Kris was talking about might be different from children who come back home to live off the parent instead of working. But then there's the mental illness thing. That's always a touchy subject, especially since half our population is said to have some kind of mental disturbance that would be considered an illness. Yikes!

 
At 12:16 AM, Blogger Kristin said...

Ack, that many Cheryl, that's not pretty. But I guess that's how we're all here, to work together. Not easy obviously.

I think the inheritance we leave nowadays is different than the Bible's day. We leave them their education now, rather than the land. I think that's fair. That said, I will solely inherit my parents' house, but they'll live forever, and it comes with the care of my brother, so it's not exactly free. LOL

 
At 10:59 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Wow, I've never seen Hoarder's, heard a bit about it though. The story you told is so sad. I agree, parents should spend it while they have it, and don't worry about leaving something behind for their kids. Memories, and things like the special little gown momma made you should be the things you treasure, not money. That said, just a reminder, "reality" tv, often is not reality. A good bit of it is staged, so while they may have told most of the story, they may not have told all of it. The Son may have been a so and so, but he also may not have been as bad as they made him out to be. We will never know.

 
At 11:49 AM, Blogger Kristin said...

Melissa, this was interesting though. I went to the site after the show because I was fascinated by the whole family dynamic. The brother called the show to get "help" for his brother -- but he'd never called them or social services when the father was alive.

Then, the mentally ill brother called the police to keep the brother off of his property and legally, it was his property. But I went onto the site and saw what the organizer and doctor on the case said about the "after care" and it sounded like the truth was pretty much shown on that one.

It was incredible. There was also a homeless guy who had tried to break into the house, but got stuck on all the garbage and if the homeless guy didn't turn the hoarder in, he could stay on the property.

So he was LIVING on the property in a shelter and the organizer (who used to be a compulsive gambler) said the most profound thing while cleaning out the yard. He said, "This makes you realize we're all just four or five bad decisions from "crapping" in a bucket."

I loved that comment, but I do think this reality show is pretty close to reality because you can see for yourself how the people try to deny they're hoarders when they're amidst eight feet of garbage. The mind is an incredible machine -- what it will do to "protect" us sometimes.

 
At 9:01 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

wow, you are so right, it is amazing what the mind can do to "protect" us.
Thanks for checking into the show, as I said before I've never seen it, just heard about it. I'm glad to know that they stay truthful. I saw an article on Fox a while back about reality shows and how they were not really reality, just the kinds of things people want to see, drama, tragedy, and people fighting. Sad that this is the kind of world we live in today. Thanks for the update!

 
At 4:29 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't think you can make a judgement here. The TV show was edited and shot with their own narrative in mind as far as the family trouble. You don't have the whole story and you don't know what really happened with his father and his brother over the years and you can't say that the other brother 'took care' of the old parent because other than being there, he was happy to let dad live in filth, just like the one that had to get away. Understandably--who wants to live like that and try to deal with those selfish people? It would drive most sane people bonkers. He had a life to live too, you know?

 

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The Authors
Kristin Billerbeck
Kristin Billerbeck is a proud Californian, wife, mother of four, and connoisseur of the irrelevant. She writes Christian Chick Lit; where she finds need for most of the useless facts lulling about in her head.

www.KristinBillerbeck.com

Colleen Coble

Colleen Coble writes romantic suspense with a strong atmospheric element. A lovable animal of some kind--usually a dog--always populates her novels. She can be bribed with DeBrand mocha truffles.

www.ColleenCoble.com

Denise Hunter

Denise Hunter writes women's fiction and love stories with a strong emotional element. Her husband says he provides her with all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too.

www.DeniseHunterBooks.com

Diann Hunt

Diann Hunt writes romantic comedy and humorous women's fiction. She has been happily married forever, loves her family, chocolate, her friends, chocolate, her dog, and well, chocolate.

www.DiannHunt.com

Hannah Alexander

Cheryl Hodde writes romantic medical suspense under the pen name of Hannah Alexander, using all the input she can get from her husband, Mel, for the medical expertise. For fun she hikes and reads. Out of guilt, she rescues discarded cats. She and Mel are presently taking orders from four pampered strays.

www.HannahAlexander.com

 
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