My name is Jo. [music playing] I'm 72 years old,
and I am retired. I see myself as a collector. My interest in collecting didn't
start until after I married. Every time Edward would get a
bonus we would buy an antique, and that was the
beginning of collecting. I like my glassware. I love the blue and white. My mother told me that her
father was a clock maker. So maybe that's where I
got my love of clocks. I'm Ed, Jo's
husband of 49 years. I was 25 years old when I moved
in to that house and bought it. That house is part of me. It's part of Jo. JO: The house was
not always like this. When the kids were growing
up, we had no problems. I'm Sharon and I'm 52
years old, and Jo is my mom. When we were growing
up, she was very much, to me, in control of it. It was quite different
than it is now. [clock chime] ED: Jo's always collected. When we first got married,
we didn't have a lot, and had a lot of bare
walls, so the collecting didn't bother me. But as time went
on, it didn't stop. The collecting got worse, and it
wasn't collecting good things. By that time, it was just
not throwing anything away, not even a bottle
cap or magazine. It just all stayed,
nothing was thrown away. JO: It accelerated mostly
after the kids left home. I guess you call that
empty nest syndrome. I started going to junk
stores, I call them. It just escalated to
where everything I bought, I wanted to keep. I'm Karen, I'm 52,
and Jo is my mother. The part that really
has bothered me is just how it has
affected them, you know, that it makes them
both seem so miserable. ED: You couldn't eat off the
table because the table was full, it was never cleaned off. All of my space was taken up. In other words, I didn't
have nothing left. I feel like I've been robbed
of my retirement, I really do. My name is Geralin
Thomas, I'm a certified professional
organizer specializing in chronic disorganization. I think it would be best
if you guys work together as a family on that porch. And the goal is
really to clear away as much as we can,
but don't do anything that makes you uncomfortable,
or unhappy, or whatever. Easy enough? [inaudible chatter] We've got to get [inaudible]. JO: Today is the day that I
have to make all my decisions. I know it's serious business. Right now, I'm
extremely anxious. GERALIN THOMAS: Jo is
taking a huge leap of faith here, trusting us. Are you getting annoyed? You know, she's
just getting nervous that things are
getting thrown away. I told her the other
day that you can't be as miserable as she is
and say that those things are what make you happy. Because truly, the
happiness comes from the love in your life. ED: I love woodworking. I built me a shop
in the backyard. Before I knew it,
little by little, things started moving in there. Most of this is, like I
said, stuff that I piled up. Uh, Basically, she's taken all of
it over except for one corner. [music playing] ED: Jo's not doing
too well today. After all the things
that happened yesterday, it caught up with
her last night. I don't claim to need
to be here right now. SHARON: My mom seemed
to be very upset because of things that she
thinks we've thrown away. She thinks everything's gone
that she wanted to keep. I can guarantee you,
we've not thrown any dishes away or donated any. GERALIN THOMAS: Good morning. JO: Good morning. I heard you're
having a rough morning. A rough night, GERALIN THOMAS: OK. To go along with the morning. I want to hear what-- what's wrong. My mind is in a turmoil. GERALIN THOMAS: OK. JO: All I could do is lay
there and think, I had this, and I had that, and I had
that, but I haven't seen it. I'm Dr. William B.
Lawson, I'm Professor and Chair of psychiatry
at Howard University. This is a condition which has
given her a sense of control, a sense of stability,
and she indeed does have a strong compulsion
in terms of maintaining and keeping what she has. These are my possessions. GERALIN THOMAS: OK. Right. Trash? No, it's sellable. Well, why don't we-- Are you sure? Yes, people buy Mason jars. With zinc lids. - Trash.
- Trash. That's trash. Trash. Trash. It's all trash. All right-- [bleep] What is it? It's a [bleep] possum. It's alive. [music playing] [laughter] It's in there? Yes. Holy-- get that possum! I can't. Pick him up. Pick him up by the tail
and keep it shaking! Yeah, perfect. Seriously. All right. I'm gonna go around behind you. JO: Excitement! There we go. [music continues] Yeah. I always had
evidence that there was one here because they'd
get in the fish food. What? Oh my goodness. Big as a little dog. He's bigger than [inaudible]. Handle it. OK. Now, give me some information. There's a typewriter in there? I think so. Yeah, we sold one like
that just the other day and it should auction over $100. Any of your crystal bowls
here, those are very sellable. Oh, this is Fire King
mixing bowls, right? JO: Mm-hmm. I found a set of those
selling for 250, 260. JO: Oh my gosh.
- Get outta here. Really?
- Yeah. Yeah. ED: She's never sold anything. Never. She used to tell me
all the time, well, this is worth money. And I said, yes Jo, but
it's not worth money to me until the money's in the bank. Does it make you feel good
thinking you're going to earn some money on these things? In a way, and in a way
it's a little heartbreaking. And why is that? Bittersweet? - Bittersweet.
- OK. Yeah. Just the thought that I
won't have it anymore. Uh-huh. But to be honest
with you, I won't-- It's sort of like
you're describing how-- like losing a friend. Well, maybe that is right. [music playing] I have a collection
of mugs from England. Well, now some
of the beer mugs that I see up there on the wall
are going to be average pieces. But it looks like you have
some other pieces up there that would be very
collectible to someone, and should sell quite high. Mm-hmm. Just walking
around the house, I would estimate
probably 10 to $20,000 worth of sellable collectibles. GERALIN THOMAS: This is
interesting from the standpoint that Jo is a hoarder, but
she truly has collectibles. So in most hoarding cases,
the things that people hoard are absolutely of no
value to someone else. Jo's things are very valuable. I showed Bob your
cast iron doorstops and I think he should tell
you what they're worth. The top accepting doorstop
closing price, $1,690 for a duck decoy doorstop. So most of these doorstops
that you've collected are extremely expensive. Isn't that exciting? It's exciting. GERALIN THOMAS: I'm not
sure what motivates Jo. It's not monetary, it's
not more space in her home. I'm not sure what we
can use to motivate her. [music continues] Unbelievable. I have a shop again. Spent a lot of time
out here at one time. I didn't think I'd ever
be able to use it again. It makes me feel good. Thank you, thank you. I'm happy. I'm happy for me too. They did good! JO: I will try my best
never to do that again. GERALIN THOMAS: I think
the best plan for Jo would be for her
and Edward to seek some therapy together, and then
Jo to get therapy on her own. WILLIAM B. LAWSON: This
is not something that's going to go away immediately. I think we're going to
require ongoing counseling, psychotherapy, and
perhaps medication. GERALIN THOMAS: I came
here extremely optimistic, but she has already started
talking about going shopping but not buying things. That's not a good sign. I'm not optimistic
about her progress.
