So Your Parents Are Old When Your Parents Are Hoarders with Amanda Uhle
Nov 4, 2025
Amanda Uhle, a writer and publisher at McSweeney's and author of the memoir Destroy This House, shares her poignant journey of growing up with hoarder parents. She reflects on her childhood in a cluttered home, the impact on her own habits, and her fierce love for her family despite their dysfunction. The conversation touches on how her mother's preparedness spiraled into hoarding and the emotional toll of clearing their belongings. Uhle's candid storytelling brings a cathartic insight into family dynamics and the meaning we attach to objects.
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Hoarding Grew From 'Being Prepared'
- Amanda frames her parents' hoarding as an extension of generational preparedness that became extreme over time.
- Their accumulation began with pantry backups and escalated into perishable food and outdoor storage that clogged daily life.
Parents With Many Careers
- Amanda recounts her parents' shifting careers, ending as a hospice nurse and Lutheran pastor in later life.
- Her parents jumped between roles like engineer, fashion designer, and salesperson before settling into those late-career jobs.
Self-Defeating Choices Shaped Their Lives
- Amanda sees a through line of self-destructive or self-defeating choices across her parents' lives.
- They followed impulses without weighing long-term consequences, which made caregiving later more complicated.
