[music playing]
I'm Nathan.
I'm 34 years old, and I'm a scavenger.
[music playing]
I get a rush off finding things.
Oh, green glass.
Jokingly, I say I have ADOS, Attention Deficit--
Ooh, Shiny.
Sweet, I'll take this.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm Cathy, Nathan's mother.
Hm.
CATHY: It's just something about it,
the shiny things he likes-- shiny rocks,
bottle caps, anything shiny.
Oh, not under there.
I've actually, like, lost track of all the stuff that I have.
It's always like Christmas when you open the box.
I'm like, I forgot I had that.
CATHY: So many things--
I mean, just so many things.
[music playing]
If I listed all the collections that I have,
we'd be here for a while.
I have a lot of Hot Wheels.
I love glass.
I have a lot of puppets.
I've always loved rocks.
Troll dolls.
I have raccoon penises--
well, penis bones, penis bones.
I love everything.
I don't know why I do what I do.
I am Ronald, and Nathan is my son.
Nathan's definitely looking for a pot of gold
at the end of the rainbow.
My partner's been saying for the past two years,
if you don't get this place cleaned up, I'm out of here.
But last night, he's done with me.
Until I get the stuff out, I don't think that we could move
forward with our relationship.
[music playing]
CATHY: Nathan was five or six when we divorced.
It-- it was very hard.
It was very difficult.
NATHAN: I started scavenging to deal with tension at home.
I filled the void in my life with stuff.
The church that I grew up in, I loved everyone there.
And they turned their back on me.
My Christian faith teaches me that homosexuality is wrong.
I have a sister-in-law who is a member of the church family.
She did say, turn or burn, Nathan.
Turn or burn.
Turn or burn, Nathan.
[boom]
CATHY: His dad and step mother was
telling Nathan that he was going to go to hell
and die with AIDS.
Um, just very upsetting.
He is going to be evicted if he doesn't clean up the house.
I could lose my family.
I'm going to lose my partner.
I'm going to lose the house.
This is the lowest I've ever been in my life.
Good morning, everyone.
Good morning.
I'm Standolyn Robertson, a certified
professional organizer.
I really want to challenge you on why some of the things
you're keeping, you're keeping.
I don't know if it'll be clothes or collectibles,
but there will be some challenges.
The doctor and I want to really team
up with you and your family to help you through this process.
From my perspective, I think this
is going to be important to have a lot of conversation.
There have been a lot of things that
perhaps may not have been said.
Nathan is angry.
Nathan has been holding a tremendous amount of resentment
towards his father.
Until he begins getting rid of the emotional horde,
nothing's going to change.
He's just going to continue to do what he's been doing.
[music playing]
So let's start.
We'll just start here.
Keep, and three keep.
OK.
And the rest of these?
Donate.
If this was this easy, why are we here?
It's not easy for me.
I'm just trying to be strong.
One keep.
See?
It's getting a little harder.
I'm not going to get crabby, though.
STANDOLYN ROBERTSON: Nathan is ready.
This is what hoarding can looks like when you're young.
These are all going to be--
STANDOLYN ROBERTSON: He's aware of his situation
and he's willing to do the hard work.
Donate, donate, donate, donate.
Piranha.
OK, that's scary looking.
Nathan, I want you to tell your father what it is that you
are really holding on to.
Do you think being gay is a sin?
Yes.
To me, it is.
But can I judge someone?
I can't.
But I-- I can't heal myself if I can't know
that I'm OK being who I am.
Nathan, I accept you the way you are
if you accept me the way I am.
That's not accepting.
I'm not asking you to change.
I think you're asking me to change.
Is that what you're after, him to change his convictions?
Yeah, probably.
You don't have to have agreement on ideals
to get along.
If you're going to have deeper connections with your father
and with your family, you're going
of have to accept you 1,000%.
You don't have to have the consent of anyone.
And it shouldn't make you feel bad.
How are you?
I'm fine. How are you?
Good.
This is so pretty.
CATHY: I was called into the room
because Nathan has had a problem with his dad
because of his sexuality.
I'm just wanting Dad to accept who I am.
It doesn't matter whether you're--
you're gay.
It doesn't matter.
We're all different people.
But that doesn't mean we love you any less.
There's so much wisdom there and so much love for you.
If you really want to live, and not just continue to exist,
you've got to let it go.
The issue is self-acceptance.
Ronald accepting Ronald as he is,
and Nathan accepting Nathan as he is--
that's the real healing.
That's the real transformation.
What is your decision with all these items on this table?
Every bit of it needs to go, yeah.
All of it?
All of it.
WOMAN: All of it.
Ron, that's all donate.
Trash, probably?
MELVA GREEN: Nathan has gotten rid
of many of the things that have held
him stuck in very childlike and immature behaviors.
Donate?
Yep.
Nathan is finally growing up.
[music playing]
Wow.
RONALD: This is an amazing transformation.
I mean, there's so much clearer space.
When this began, everyone had tears--
tears of sadness, tears of shame, tears of guilt.
But they're all radiating with a very beautiful glow now.
It's like the weights have been lifted off
of each and every one of their shoulders.
Holy cow.
Very nice.
What I like about this room, I feel
like it's not a child's room.
This room belongs to a man.
That was kind of the first thought I had when I walked in.
You could see him almost like stand a little taller.
For my family to-- to come and help me with this,
for y'all to come and help me, it's just
really a message of love.
I saw my dad's heart, and I saw my mom's heart,
and I saw my brother's heart warm, too.
And this was really a beautiful, beautiful experience for me,
and something I will never, never ever forget.
I'm proud of you.
Big group hug.
Everybody, everybody.
Please [inaudible].