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Woman suffocates under piles of clutter in home
Local6.com ^ | Jan 7, 2006 | Local 6.com

Posted on 01/09/2006 6:22:49 AM PST by plain talk

A woman in Shelton, Wash., who was reported missing by her husband, was found dead under piles of clutter in their home, where she suffocated to death, according to police. Shelton Police Chief Terry Davenport said the home was so cluttered that police officers' heads touched the ceiling as they climbed over the clutter.

Authorities found the body of 62-year-old Marie Rose buried under clothes after 10 hours of searching. She reportedly suffered from a condition known as hoarding. Rose's husband believes she fell while looking for the phone in the house this week and suffocated. There were so many piles of items that the man did not realize she was dead in the home.

(Excerpt) Read more at local6.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: disorders; hoard; hoarder; hoarders; hoarding; obsessivecompulsive; ocd; pigsty; squalor; stuff
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To: zeeba neighba

Oy. I can't imagine packing newspapers. That's outrageous. I like flow to but I think feng shui is a myth, though it sounds nice. Good luck. On a humorous note, years ago when we bought our first house, there was a counter top with two drawers directly underneath, located in the kitchen. That counter had the phone, mail, you know, the usual junk. The point was for all the papers and stuff to at least stay in one spot. Though we each had our own drawer, his, of course, was stuffed and I could never get that counter cleaned of his junk. One day I saw that he had placed some of his cr@p on the counter next to my stove because he was running out of space and I told him that there was no way he was gong to build an annex on the other counter. We both laughed at that. It's just a battle every day, that's all I can say.


221 posted on 01/10/2006 6:37:49 AM PST by Paved Paradise
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To: Paved Paradise
It's just a battle every day, that's all I can say.

***************

You got that right. One of my goals each day is just to sort and file/dispose of the mail.

I signed up for the FlyLady.net emails.

222 posted on 01/10/2006 6:43:15 AM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: trisham

I think I'm going to read that fly lady thing just our of curiosity. I actually thought about starting a business where I organize people. I love to do it. I know what you mean about the daily mail though. We get literally pounds of mail a day; it doesn't help that we also happen to get all of one set of our parents' mail since we are handling all of their finances and affairs. It's enough to make one go postal!

It's nice to know there are so many other "victims" of this out there. Misery loves company you know.


223 posted on 01/10/2006 6:45:23 AM PST by Paved Paradise
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To: voiceinthewind

Just read your post. That's a great idea about the bookcases you made. I'm a bibliophile as well so I have a real weakness for buying books. I love to read and I just love the comfort of being around books. Nothing ever smelled as good to me as the smell of my little town library growing up in middle America.


224 posted on 01/10/2006 6:47:07 AM PST by Paved Paradise
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To: plain talk

bump


225 posted on 01/10/2006 6:59:16 AM PST by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: Mygirlsmom

When our *poor* welfare neighbors moved out (abandoned the place) the landlord hired another neighbor to clean out the place. They used snow shovels and just stuffed it into MANY garbage bags. UNBELIEVABLE. Along with the stench.


226 posted on 01/10/2006 7:09:32 AM PST by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: tiredoflaundry

ROTFLOL. Or no internet connection to access FR. ARGHHHH!!!!!!


227 posted on 01/10/2006 7:16:58 AM PST by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: sweet_diane
She definately needed to visit FlyLady.net

FlyLady Bump!! Now if I can only get going on MY routines!

228 posted on 01/10/2006 7:23:28 AM PST by SuziQ
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To: tiredoflaundry

LOL!! SO true in my house!


229 posted on 01/10/2006 7:24:24 AM PST by SuziQ
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To: Paved Paradise

My husband is a pack rat and the thing that makes it bad is that every once in a while, something will break; so he goes out and rumages through the barn for about 20 mins and comes back with just the part to fix it. Something he garbage picked 20 years ago. "I knew I was saving this for some reason." Then it reinforces his disecting out electronic equipment and saving boxes of it. Grrrr!!!!

In the meantime, I need to GET OFF FR and go get something done. *sigh*


230 posted on 01/10/2006 7:25:25 AM PST by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: trisham

We have a trash can in the garage, and I sort the mail on the workbench; that way I can dispose of it right there and keep about 85% of it from getting into the house!


231 posted on 01/10/2006 7:26:17 AM PST by linda_22003
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To: DaveLoneRanger; little jeremiah

ping


232 posted on 01/10/2006 7:46:30 AM PST by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: trisham
How I dispose of mail, and I seem to get it by the crate (a habit of mail-ordering)--

I pick it up out of the box from the car and put it on the seat next to me. I don't bring it into the house without sort out the junk first, which I deposit in a trash can in the garage. Sometimes it piles up in the car for a little while, but at least it's not going anywhere. I keep a supply of grocery-plastic bags in the car under the seat.

233 posted on 01/10/2006 8:01:48 AM PST by Mamzelle
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To: proud American in Canada
"Yes, and she helps you to realize that keeping your home maintained is a question of self-respect: "Finally Loving Yourself," as she says."

It is more then just email reminders (which you don't have to subscribe to) and tips and such. For me, it was almost like my first AlAnon meeting when I realized that I wasn't the only one 'broken', so to speak. FlyLady helps me define what needs to be done so I can actually accomplish something without making me feel ashamed for needing the support.

I came to realize that I will never have a 'Martha Stewart' home, and cancelled my subscription to her magazine (sorry Martha!)..the pressure was just too much! This past Christmas my mom said our home was better than a 'Martha Stewart' Christmas because it was warm and welcoming.

234 posted on 01/10/2006 8:14:14 AM PST by sweet_diane (I support TheShoulder dot org)
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To: I'm ALL Right!
"FlyLady drove me crazy. A gazillion e-mails each day.

I could be wrong, but I don't think you have to subscribe to the email reminders. I don't even open them, just read the reminder and delete. I do enjoy some of the testimonials tho.

I have found the Christmas Control Journal very helpful in meal planning, gift buying etc. I need all the help I can get!

235 posted on 01/10/2006 8:17:43 AM PST by sweet_diane (I support TheShoulder dot org)
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To: linda_22003
We have a trash can in the garage, and I sort the mail on the workbench; that way I can dispose of it right there and keep about 85% of it from getting into the house!

********************

That's a good idea.

236 posted on 01/10/2006 8:20:37 AM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: sweet_diane
For me, it was almost like my first AlAnon meeting when I realized that I wasn't the only one 'broken', so to speak

*************

I think that's an important part of it.

I am getting my kitchen clean today, and discovered that Mr. trisham had put one smaller pan inside a larger one, which had then become stuck. I struggled with it in the sink, and realized I was going to cause damage that way. So, I flung the pans outside the front door into a snowbank. 30 minutes later, I went out and shook them loose.

Consider this my "cleaning tip of the day". :)

237 posted on 01/10/2006 8:26:12 AM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: trisham

I have never let things get THAT bad, but I have a friend who would live that way if left to his own devices.


238 posted on 01/10/2006 8:43:26 AM PST by Ignatz (cyborg: "The lay teachers could not make hands of some girls.")
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To: trisham
Thanks for the tip trisham! Next time we get snow in south alabama I'll use it. (snow days beat the heck outa hurricane days) LOL

Have fun in your kitchen. Working in mine today getting all of 2005 paperwork out and updating calendars etc before thinking about tackleing the mountain of dust on to shelf above my cabinets. ugh... if we ever build again, won't make that mistake! lol

239 posted on 01/10/2006 9:15:01 AM PST by sweet_diane (I support TheShoulder dot org)
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To: guitfiddlist

"although it's liberating, it hurts to get rid of everything you own"

Yup it hurts. I am a Games collector but not a packrat. Also gave all my games and belongings away to schools and needy persons to take an extended trip to Europe like you did.
It was interesting. I put an ad in the paper about my games and other educational materials I had. There was even a half page write-up in the city (pop. 1 million) newspaper about my unique items.
Only one public school teacher responded. All the rest were home school parents. Make of that what you will, but it doesn't auger well as to the motivational spirit of the classroom teacher. Being a teacher myself, it kind of compounded the ache of parting with stuff I had used in the classroom for years.


240 posted on 01/10/2006 9:17:00 AM PST by A'elian' nation
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