Nobody can live this way. Oh, my God. I wanted to live in the house. They said, she's been
dead for a long time. You in the throes of a
meltdown does not serve anyone. I didn't realize
how bad it was. It's all [inaudible]. [sobbing] You look at all the
[bleep] You're keeping. Ah, OK. We really need to
do some letting go. Keep it. If I controlled her, she
wouldn't be living like this. You live with pots and
pans or you live with people? I am involved, and I'm
going to be involved-- OK. --because I give
a damn about you. Yeah. [music playing] NORMAN: My name is
Norman, and there's a lot of different
things that I collect. Look around the house, and I
have 30 guitars, 5,000 records. I have about 15,000 comic books. Lots of art work
and lithographs. I have so much, I
just forget sometimes. And I can climb almost anything,
and I have pretty good balance. So I develop ways and means
to get around the mess. And it's kind of like good
exercise after a while. My name is Joan, and
I'm Norman, Junior's mom. Norman's always been
interested in collecting. And the house is usually messy,
but I haven't been in my son's house for about eight years. I think I really realized it
was getting worse from what my husband said. I am Norm, and Norman is my son. Being in the antique
business, I feel totally responsible for starting my
son on a path toward hoarding and collecting things. NORMAN: I would go
shopping with them, and I would learn about the
different types of things that they would buy. I would make myself
interested and learn about different things that
even they didn't know about. NORM: He works in a
flea market business and doesn't make
much money at it. Unfortunately, he has filled his
house with too many things that are worthless. NORMAN: She had
broken her ankle, and because of the fact
that she had no insurance, they would not
perform the surgery. She was a bit agoraphobic
to begin with, and we were quite content to
spend time with each other. So there wasn't really
any reason for us to leave the house too often. She was an alcoholic. He became totally
involved around caring for his girlfriend
and collecting items of questionable value. NORMAN: After she
had the accident, I did whatever I had to
do to make her happy. I'd bring her
presents every day. Sometimes I'd bring her, like,
four or five things in one day. She ordered things all the time
through the mail, because she couldn't go out and
walk around and shop. She ordered everything from
fur coats to juice blenders. And things just kind of
escalated and snowballed. NORM: He became overwhelmed
with the confusion and the overwhelming kind of
onslaught of all the things that were in the house and how
difficult it would be to clean it. NORMAN: That day, my girlfriend
was so sick that she just seemed to kind of want to-- want to rest. She wouldn't eat solid foods. I got her things to drink so
she wouldn't be dehydrated. And after a while,
I looked over. She didn't seem like she
was breathing anymore. I was just praying that
it was not happening. I tried to carry her
out of the house. However, I could only carry her
about halfway out of the house before I was overcome from heat. Just physically couldn't do it. My name is Ivanka
Walker, and I'm a paramedic for the
Philadelphia Fire Department. We were brought to Norm's
house because of a 9-1-1 call for an unresponsive person. And when we got on
scene, you literally had to enter in the rear,
because you couldn't go through the front. I had a lot of equipment,
and it was hard to maneuver. And I was slipping on things. There was a lot of things
blocking the stairway. And to get to our patient,
we had to balance ourselves standing on furniture. NORMAN: They walked
up and looked at her. They said, oh. She's been dead for a long time. JOAN: He just called,
and he said, mom. And he was crying his eyes out. And he said, Jeneveve died. And she had one of her seizures. And I guess it went
into a heart attack. My son was inconsolable. I thought that this is the
worst thing that could ever happen in the history of the
world, is what I thought. I would've taken her
place if I could. What my wife and I have been
working on for the last month is to get him to understand
that he has to get rid of that stuff. NORMAN: There's just too
much clutter in this house, but I don't really have much
feeling about it, because I don't care about
anything except the fact that the woman that I love, who
was the best friend in my life, has died suddenly, unexpectedly. And I miss her every day. [sigh] LINDA: I'm Linda, and I'm
not in the best of health and neither is my house. I have clothes piled up. The clothes are
stacked up, because I can't get to my closet. My two sons, Andre and
Sean, live with me. Andre is 42. I'm Linda's son. Linda is my mom. I've been here my whole life. But I stay gone a lot,
because it's like a prison. SEAN: I'm Sean, And
Linda is my mom. Our house smells
like rotten food, clothes laying everywhere. It's embarrassing. LINDA: At one time,
Sean did leave. He lived with his girlfriend. Things didn't work out like
that, but he always came home. I'm Robin, and
Linda is my sister. The condition of the house that
they're living in right now, it just looks like what
I would describe as hell. It's horrible. LINDA: My knees
are bone-on-bone. And I have to have surgery. And I'm going to probably have
to have in-home health care. And they wouldn't be
able to get in here. ANDRE: Home health care couldn't
come in, because they would call the Parish or authorities. So my mom wanted to go to my
aunt's house to stay there, and my aunt got upset
and said, you know, I didn't cause this problem. Why is it falling on me now? I figured that that would
be the prime time to say, OK, you can come stay with
me, but one way or the other, we're getting this
house cleaned up. If my sister does not go
through with this process, I will have to call
the authorities. Sean has no respect for
anybody else's property. ANDRE: He don't
like all the mess, but he's part of the
reason it's like that. We clean something up, and he'll
come unload something right where you cleaned off a spot. I'm like, what's the point? Any time I try to do
anything to the house, they come right behind me
and mess it back up again. ROBIN: I see a lot
of finger-pointing. The boys point at her. She points at them. LINDA: I would clean somewhere,
and somebody else would come alone and dirty it up again. I was spinning my wheels. My dad used to keep
the house pretty clean. ANDRE: She would be at work. We would go through and pick
stuff up, take it to Goodwill. And she would come home and
start raising hell with him, wanting to know where
everything is at. If he threw it away, she
would go in the garbage can, digging stuff out
of the garbage can. They used to fight
about it constantly. ANDRE: Well, they would
cuss each other out over it. She would go ballistic. I can't find this. I can't find that. She hid this on me. It's in the cabinet where
it's supposed to be. The doctor said that it
was a massive heart attack. I think his heart just exploded. He collapsed dead in my arms. I was never a
great housekeeper. But after my husband died, I
couldn't deal with it anymore. SEAN: I don't think
when my dad passed away, her behavior got any worse. It's just didn't have anybody
there to straighten it up. LINDA: All of it just
began to accumulate. And the more that
accumulated, the harder it was to get after it. She's worked hard
her entire life. She has been a good
person, and to see her and those boys
living in the condition that they're living
in, it breaks my heart. NORMAN: My best friend,
the girl I love, died seven weeks
ago in this house. And my life will
never be the same. [knock on door] Hi. Hi. I'm Dr. Green. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you as well. I'm Dr. Melva Green. I'm a board certified
psychiatrist, specializing in obsessive
compulsive disorders and hoarding behaviors. So Norman, what room is this? Uh, this would
be the living room. Tell me what you have here. I have furniture that
needs to go upstairs. All kinds of odds and ends that
need to be sold or thrown away. Comic books, records, guitars. It's obvious
why the city would want to condemn Norm's house. It's impossible to
even get into the home without squeezing
through very tight spaces and standing on at least two to
three feet of different items. Now, I noticed on the stairwell
there, there's a piece. Is that a chest of drawer? NORMAN: Yes. It was up in the hallway. MELVA GREEN: The paramedics
tried to move that out of the way to get to her? Yes. When they came in, taking
my girlfriend's body, they threw that down the
stairs for some reason. Norman's in the throes
of a grief response. It's only been seven weeks since
the death of his girlfriend. Norman is really suffering. You OK? Yeah. MELVA GREEN: I want to
just say, take your time. I'm here to help you. I'm here to support you. OK? He's very fearful that
anybody else in that home might get hurt. Throughout the house, up the
stairs, down the hallway, Norman constantly
reached back for my hand. This is where she stayed? NORMAN: Yes. MELVA GREEN: Where exactly? Over there by the,
uh, by the wall. MELVA GREEN: That's a bed? NORMAN: Yes. Was she pretty much in
the bed most of the time? Yeah. Most of the time. Mostly, she never
really left this room. She never really left. OK. He got really entangled in
a codependent relationship. She was completely
dependent on him, but Norman found great
joy caring for her needs. NORMAN: I would come home,
and I would bring her food, and I would do whatever I
had to do during the day to raise enough money
to take care of her, although sometimes I spent
maybe 18 hours a day with her. - 18 hours a day with her?
- Sometimes. Wow. Norman's grief and
his hoard, they seem to be quite intertwined. Her death with
the obvious need to get everything out of here,
it's very, very difficult. His mood seems to
be all over the place. His thoughts seem to
be all over the place. MELVA GREEN: What are
you feeling right now? Sadness. I miss her so much. MELVA GREEN: Over the course
of clearing this hoard, we have to handle
Norm with kid gloves. He's in the early stages
of a grief process. So his emotional state
is quite unpredictable. It's going to be-- it's really
going to be touch and go. ROBIN: You can go and clean
up that house all you want to, but if she's going to
continue to bring things home, there's a deep-rooted
issue there that needs to be addressed. [knock on door] Hello. Hello, Linda. I'm Dr. Suzanne Chabaud, and I
specialize in OCD and hoarding syndrome. This is my den. OK. And this is the pool table. Pool table. As I walked into the room
where the pool table was, there was everything under
the sun in that room. Because I notice here,
you have a mixture of just about everything. Mm-hmm. I'll bring something home, and
I'll forget that I have it. This is Sean's room. SEAN: He collects a lot of cups. LINDA: He leaves something
in it, all of them, and it gets spilled. SUZANNE CHABAUD: And moldy. Right. When everybody's to blame,
everybody can stay still. Nothing gets accomplished. Nothing changes. Linda doesn't mind
having her boys there. What she minds is that they
don't do anything to help, and they're making
the house worse. And this is my room. Wow. Where do you sleep? In a little
corner, at an angle. SUZANNE CHABAUD: I can't imagine
how you can make yourself comfortable there. It's hard. How do you think one of your
family members would feel about the way you live and--
like, your sister? Oh, she doesn't
like it at all. She has preached
a lot, you know, which didn't get very far,
because it goes in one ear and out the other. - For you.
- Right. Yeah. Right, because-- Was there ever any threat
that she would call the health department? She mentioned it
to me, that you know, that they could come
in and condemn it. I was here by myself. I was going around this
corner one day, and I fell. And I like to never got up. And I said, there was no
way that an ambulance could get in there and get me out
of here, if I needed one. To feel that helpless. I didn't even tell the boys
about that, because it was over and done with. LINDA: And she prides
herself in being independent. This is a kind of
imprisonment for her. I put off my surgery,
because I was afraid that somebody would have
to come in the house and maybe look after me. SUZANNE CHABAUD: The writing
is on the wall for her. No health care agency is
going to come into this house to assist her, because the
minute they step inside, they're going to
blow the whistle. MELVA GREEN: I think
Norman will be devastated if he loses his home as well
as losing his girlfriend. I hope he's absolutely
motivated to do whatever is necessary to prevent
that from happening. CORY CHALMERS: Good
morning, everyone. (ALL) Good morning. My name is Cory Chalmers. I'm an extreme hoarding
cleanup specialist. We are all here
today for Norman. Norman is facing a
really serious crisis. The city has come in,
they've condemned your home. Unfortunately, the
circumstances were tragic. We understand that. Dr. Green is here to help you
through some of those emotions. So I'm going to let her kind
of describe what the process is for you, OK?
- OK. Well, I'm here
for you, Norman. Your family's here for you. We're all here for you. What I really want you to do is
stay involved in the process. I don't want the
grief to overtake you, where you're so hopeless
and you just say, take it all. I want you to stay here,
work with me, work with us, stay in the feelings so that
we can get you moving along in the healing process. - All right.
- All right? - You ready to do this?
- Yes, I am. CORY CHALMERS: Good. OK, you guys all ready? - (ALL) Yes.
- All right. Let's get started. [clatter] CORY CHALMERS: Just to
bring this much stuff here, you're talking about thousands
of hours worth of work. Yeah. CORY CHALMERS: This morning,
working with Norm was great. You know, he is just
flying through stuff. When's the last time you were
able to actually use this room? About six or seven years ago. His family was participating. Put a mask on. He is just tearing through
everything, not processing any thoughts at all. He put his wall up, blocked
all of his emotions. Now he just wants to throw
everything away without even thinking about it. Norm, how we doing? Throwing things away. Everything? Whatever I decide, I guess. It's overwhelming. It's not-- it's
like this, you know? It's like-- it's like-- MELVA GREEN: Much
like I've anticipated this entire process,
Norm's emotions are all over the place. NORM: I am considering
leaving actually. But what happened? This morning, we were in
there working together and everything was going fine. So what changed? NORMAN: Well, it couldn't be
any more painful than it is so, you know.
- Well. Then that's a good thing.
NORMAN: And you know, well-- CORY CHALMERS: I want it to be
as painful as possible for you, because I don't want you to
ever get back to this point. Norm's just really having
a hard time, you know? The emotions are getting to him. And the whole Jeneveve
thing is coming out. NORMAN: Pain is not this. It's the pain is from my girl-- you know, the best
friend in my life died. And we get that. We get that. I can't make that go away. All I can do is make
this problem go away. MELVA GREEN: You completely
in the throes of a meltdown does not serve anyone. And that is not what
your family wants to do. Norm's locking
himself in his car to get away from
a lot of emotion that he has not wanted
to have to deal with. NORMAN: OK. So the last thing I want is
a bunch of people talking about my problems, OK? Or the way I'm supposed to
grieve about my girlfriend's death, OK? It's quite simple. I don't know why anybody
else doesn't understand this. MELVA GREEN: Your
family is here for you. They're not here to upset
you or to complicate matters. They want to be of help to you. NORMAN: You could say
whatever you want, you know? Nobody gave a [bleep]
when she was alive. ROBIN: You go in there, and
you see the way they're living, and you smell the funk. And you see the funk, and
you wallow in the funk trying to get rid of the funk. It's awful. Good morning, everybody. (ALL) Good morning. My name is Geralin Thomas. I'm a certified
professional organizer, specializing in chronic
disorganization and hoarding. Do you think your sister is
reluctant to ask for help? Yes, I do. She will not ask
for help, and she has a problem receiving help. Linda wants to make sure
that she is the decision-maker. She does not want to give
up control to her sister. Everybody ready? (ALL) Ready. Love you too. So I'm looking in this room,
and I'm trying to figure out how this works. How does a grown man
not have a garbage can? I bought a big garbage can. They didn't like
my big garbage can. So they took my big garbage
can out, put a little garbage can in, and it stays full. OK. That sounds a little
like a cop out. The big garbage can,
I can't drag outside. GERALIN THOMAS: Ah. Because it gets too full. Because you can
haul the garbage can outside for your
brother and mother, right? Yep. OK. GERALIN THOMAS: Is there a
reason you've not done that? Not really. GERALIN THOMAS: OK. That they were
living this way? It's just the smell, and
I'm seeing these clothes that are obviously not any good. I'm going to go ahead and
pull you away for a few minutes. I want to bring you
inside with your sister. I can't do that right now. Why not? Yeah. Why are all the secrets? This is what I don't understand.
Why-- It's a family that
doesn't share feelings. It breaks my heart to see
that this is the way it's been. And I am so very proud that-- OK. --that that this
is getting done. So very proud. SUZANNE CHABAUD:
Her sister wants to be involved in her life
but doesn't know how to really connect with her, because
Linda doesn't really connect with anybody. LINDA: You say OK, OK, OK.
And you continue to do it. I know.
But I've heard it all before. You've got to quit. You've got to stop.
- Look-- look where you are. Well, preaching is not
going to do any good, Robin. Just let me out of here, now. Let me out of here. Linda, no. You need to learn to
let go of this stuff. That's why you've got-- You don't need to
tell me what to do. I know I don't. - Run your own life.
- I am. I have. OK. And then, you know what? Whenever it comes to you,
who can't get medical help or get the attention you
need, then I am involved. - OK.
- And I'm going to be involved. Right. Because I give
a damn about you. Yeah. You've got all
these people here. Yeah. Listen to me. You've got all
these people here, who love you, who
are supporting you. But they cannot--
NORMAN: Yeah. Listen. NORMAN: I've started
to feel like I'm-- No, no.
Hear me. Hear me. NORMAN: --acting like
a freak, you know? And now I'm starting
to get down on myself. You're doing fine.
But hear me. They can't read your mind. NORMAN: I'll just go inside,
and I'll do what I can. [clatter] You can-- you can
go in a little closer. We have, uh, removed 1
and 1/2 dump trucks, just from this area. Really? NORMAN: Trash. CORY CHALMERS: How
does it make you feel? Hopeless. CORY CHALMERS: Is it upsetting
her because it's like this or because we're cleaning it? She doesn't want to
see me live like this. It's overwhelming, isn't it? I don't think we're
going to get cleaned up. And now the city's
going to come. And I'm scared. And I don't want him
to lose the house. I don't know how
we're going to do it. You're seeing the
reality of this. Up until now, were you-- did you get it? I didn't really know it
was anything like this. You've been
avoiding seeing it. Norm's mom is having to face the
fact that she's been avoidant, that she hasn't come
to her son's home in the last eight years. She wanted to blame
it on the girlfriend, but the reality is, she's
having to deal with the fact that she didn't do
anything to help her son. You think it's important
for your mom to see this? NORMAN: I think it's important
for her not to see it, you know, really.
Honestly. CORY CHALMERS: Because you're
ashamed of it or because-- NORMAN: No. --you don't want
to hurt her feeling. I just don't want her to-- to feel bad. She should. She should understand what
she was part of creating, don't you think? NORMAN: I'm not saying anything,
but just don't make her stand here while she's going to just
be crying by looking at it. That doesn't serve any purpose. That's fine. It's going to be tough. CORY CHALMERS: We just completed
finishing the living room and the kitchen. We still have the two upper
floors and the basement that are completely packed. So we really need to
kick it into high gear. We need to stay motivated so we
can get this job done for he, and he can pass his inspection. [clatter] Oh, my God. CORY CHALMERS: Nobody
can live this way. Oh, my God. CORY CHALMERS: He's going
to the bathroom in jars. He's given up pretty
much on everything. What do you think, David? I don't know. It's-- it's disgusting. And I can't believe that my
cousin's been living like this. Did you have any
idea it was this bad? Not at all. Not at all. It just breaks my heart. No human should have
to suffer like this. CORY CHALMERS: So this is,
uh, where they've been living. Where did they sleep? This is where she slept. This is where she died. Oh, my God. CORY CHALMERS: You can see
the empty bottles there were of vodka, and I
don't probably need to tell you what these
jars and stuff are full of. You OK? CORY CHALMERS: He got sick. Are you OK? Yeah. It's all [inaudible]. [sobbing] It's so awful. LINDA: Run your own life. ROBIN: But I am involved.
LINDA: OK. ROBIN: And I'm going
to be involved. LINDA: Right. ROBIN: Because I give
a damn about you. LINDA: Yeah.
Look at this. Do I have any
rights whatsoever? Yeah, but Linda, you look at
all the [bleep] you're keeping. Ah, OK. Let me out of here. You think this house
can only hold so much. SUZANNE CHABAUD: How are
you guys doing in here? - Not too good.
- No? No. What's going on? All along, we see a woman
who seems to be pretty sweet, and then everybody is
controlling her life. Why is she doing this to you? To control, I think. Has she done that to
you your whole life? Tried to control you? ROBIN: Obviously not. If I controlled her, she
wouldn't be living like this. SUZANNE CHABAUD: The fact is, is
that Linda disables everybody. Linda keeps her hands up and
says do not come any closer. And what stands between
Linda and people in the world is all the stuff. Here's some more.
[clatter] Oh, great. GERALIN THOMAS: They've already
emptied out your kitchen cabinets. You don't have enough
room in your kitchen to bring this back in. So we really need to
do some letting go. LINDA: Keep. Both? Mm-hmm. Keep it. Keep that. I'm going to keep this. GERALIN THOMAS: Today, we
found Linda's weak spot. And that is with pots and pans. How about copper bottoms? Can you let these go? No. Absolutely not? Absolutely. GERALIN THOMAS: A never-ending
supply of pots and pans is what we are still
finding in the house. And she just refuses
to let them go. LINDA: I want to keep
that and that and that. I feel like you're keeping too
much stuff for the size kitchen you own. Linda has not cooked for
her family for 30 years. I think you're
living in the past. The God's honest truth,
you're living in the past to think you're going to be
serving huge meals for 12 people. Think about it. I'm not real hopeful for her,
unless her boys say, mom, we're getting rid of the pots. You think your mom's
going to use all of this? No. You gotta get rid of this. She'll never use
half of this stuff. Think it's an attachment,
like a kid likes Teddy bears. You ain't going to
use all this, Linda. Get rid of it. EBay it, where it came
from to begin with. You live with pots and
pans or you live with people. Which one is it? When your own child looks
in your face and says, choose me, mom. Choose me over the objects,
and she cannot answer. That's severe. SUZANNE CHABAUD:
Answer your son, Andre. And me too.
SUZANNE CHABAUD: People or pots? People or the pots and pans? It hurts seeing her
pick pots and pans over me and my brother. That's my jambalaya pot. SUZANNE CHABAUD: She doesn't
want to break up sets-- She'd rather break up
family than break up a set. SUZANNE CHABAUD: --but
it breaks up families. Yeah. GERALIN THOMAS: How
you feeling, Andre? What are you feeling? Come on. Useless. [clatter] I bet you the last time
we had dinner on the table, when I was 10. I don't get it. I don't either. Why does she need
so many of them? LINDA: Keep that one. And that top goes to
that pot over there. We're still digging pots out. Oh, I know. You're going to dig pots
out for days in there. When they leave, we need
to send her off somewhere. I'm serious. Business needs to pick up. Robin keeps mentioning that
when Linda goes out to eat, that she and Sean or she and
Andre may go in the back room and start cleaning it out. I've overheard you saying that
you're going to come do it while she's not home. I will tell you that that
can result in unfavorable-- I mean, people have been
known to kill themselves, go into deep depression. You don't want to be
responsible for that. At some point, Robin, it's OK to
say you've done everything you possibly can do as a sister. Robin really takes
responsibility for the lifestyle
that Linda is living. You are unable to
fix what's wrong. I can't accept that. I'm trying to
make you understand and trying to help
you to understand that these little
things, you don't need. You love your pots and pans
and everything more than us. - And your clothes.
- No, I don't. That's the way I
feel, and I think that's the way Sean feels.
- Yup. SUZANNE CHABAUD:
The boys are facing being a relic in a tomb
in that house for the rest of their lives or they're
going to have to take over and say, mom,
you're getting old. We cannot tolerate seeing
you live a life that puts you and us in jeopardy. So we're taking over. SEAN: The problem
here is, you've got to have knee surgery. And home health care still
isn't able to come in here. LINDA: Oh. You still got the threat
of the health department coming in and putting you out. Yeah. You feel like this
was all for nothing? I do. I think she's going to go
right back to the way she was. ROBIN: If she
continues this way, I really do believe
that at one point, the health department is going
to end up coming into the home. And they will be
putting them out. The boys don't deserve this. They don't deserve to
be put out of their home because of what their
mother has become. SUZANNE CHABAUD: She lives
a life of intentions, like so many hoarders. Here, we have two boys that
never got the life that could have been. So this is the situation, like
in most hoarder situations, that no one gets the
life they really want. I'd rather be
homeless on the street. And he has a family. MELVA GREEN: Well,
you know, he's so fortunate to have you guys. That really is. That's why I can't-- I can't understand, when you
have a family that's so close and loves each other so much. I would do anything for anybody
in the family or any person. I mean, that's our
nature, to help. But you can just imagine, it
would take that level of shame to keep him trapped like that
and to not call his family. Right. MELVA GREEN: Right? NORMAN: I know. I didn't even realize it
until you just said it. I don't know I could ever
possibly, in my wildest dreams, even start to do
anything like this. MELVA GREEN: Becky was
the only one to really be able to say, hey, Norm. You're sick. And it really hit home for him. It was the first time that he
really had a family member tell him that he was sick. NORMAN: I can't believe-- I can't believe
it's so bad, and I didn't realize how bad it was. Sleeping on this pile,
it's [bleep] crazy. I know. [clatter] I'm a pretty lucky person. CORY CHALMERS: Well,
that's pretty encouraging to hear you say that, when
you're going through all this. I feel very
fortunate, I really do. CORY CHALMERS: Well, you've got
a lot of people that love you. NORMAN: I know.
CORY CHALMERS: You know? I'm very fortunate. CORY CHALMERS: So are you
convinced in your mind that you are never going to
go back to living like this? Yes. Yeah? CORY CHALMERS: We're at
at the end of day two. This was a big job, you know? He has a huge house. Three floors, a basement,
all completely packed. We were able to completely clean
out the first two floors, which is amazing. He was able to keep
a lot of stuff, but we literally got
rid of all the trash. And it's just, like, surreal. Look at this. It's a dream. CORY CHALMERS: I have very,
very high hopes for Norman. He is well aware of the
way he's been living. He has every chance
to live a normal life. NORMAN: It's just almost
too much to comprehend. Your time will not be
wasted, I promise you. You will forever be part
of my life, I promise you. Good. Glad to hear it, man. Don't let me down. Thank you. Thank you so much. You got it. This whole thing has
shown me how sick I was, and how incredibly
fortunate that I am. I've overcome a tremendous
step by realizing it. MELVA GREEN: Now that Norm
has had some breakthrough and insight that he's actually
really been incredibly ill, I'm really hopeful about
what's to come for him. NORMAN: I am so overwhelmed
by the tremendous turnaround of this day, that I cannot see
anything bad really coming from it, to tell you honestly. I feel like I'm reborn--
- You ready to get started? --and I feel like
this is a miracle. And I'm not kidding. Yeah. MELVA GREEN: This is a real
rare case of an obviously severe hoarding situation that's really
going to have a great outcome. I'm going to give you
[inaudible] this day for the rest of my life. [music playing]
