Friday, March 27, 2009

Art and Life Once Again

Yesterday, there was a small news item in our local paper (thanks Cassandra for the link):

Investigators were called to a home about 8 p.m. where workmen hired to clean an abandoned home had discovered a cache of human bones that are now believed to be that of the woman who lived there, and was considered missing for seven years, an officer from the Oakland Police Department said.

The home was reportedly filled from floor to ceiling with hoarded belongings, and preliminary reports indicate the victim may have died by being crushed or trapped by collected piles of junk, and was simply never found, police said.

About once a month or so I hear about one of these situations, although I'm probably more sensitive to hoarding stories because that is the subject of my upcoming book Dirty Little Secrets. When I had the main character's mother dying in her hoarded home, a few people thought that was unrealistic. Apparently, not so.

Although I don't consider myself any kind of hoarding advocate, I do hope that my book will be the first step in a dialogue about this totally hidden epidemic.

On this date: In 1998, Viagra was approved by the FDA.



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