Legit Hoarders In the Family

Yesterday I learned about some family history and apparently there is a hoarding gene in there somewhere.

First some confusing background: My mom's dad's mom (so my Great Grandma Evelina) had 5 siblings - Martha, Gilma, Stella, Elton, and Ruth. Stella and Elton never married and Ruth married a guy named Charlie and Martha married and had a baby named Shirley. Shirley married a guy named Harrison. Of the people mentioned, Stella, Elton, Harrison, and Charlie were all hoarders.

Stella hoarded dolls and her house was like a horror movie. The walls were covered in shelves which were covered in dolls staring into the souls of anyone who entered. My second cousin, Pam, new Stella liked dolls so she gave her one as a gift. Stella promptly named it Janice and and then later wrote Pam a thank you letter saying "Janice is settling in quite nicely between Eunice and Maude".

Elton had numerous collections of things but his most prized possession was his car. He built a building around it without a garage door so that nobody would steal it. This also eliminated the car's only useful function.

Harrison didn't hoard any particular item but would never throw anything away. He flattened and saved all the cardboard boxes he ever had - just in case they needed to be used again. These were placed in the rafters and accumulated there for years until their shear weight actually fractured the rafters.

Charlie hoarded guns.

I would like to say that I could not be more thrilled about having these relatives. It would be super boring if they were all just regular people.