1986

I am not one of those people that loves reading. I remember trying. I actually remember my best attempts at trying to be a “reader”. Judy Bloom books were the first try and then 10 years later I tried John Saul books. It never took.

This is not to say I don’t read. I am constantly reading. I read articles, facts, mostly non-fiction. I may not have read all the regular kids stuff but I read Archie Comics. Those comics are part of the reason I read as well as I do.

Not only was I a “reader”, thanks to those comics, but it satisfied my underlying need to collect things. I have found that you can fly under the crazy lady radar if you collect things that are socially acceptable. I have over 1000 comics. Other acceptable collectables would be sports cards, books, stickers etc. Somethings verge on the edge of unacceptable such as teacups, teaspoons, fabric, and dolls.

Imagine collecting 1000 cats, 1000 bikes, 1000 toe nail clippings, or a 1000 newspapers. Now your crazy and now this collecting becomes hoarding. A socially unacceptable collection characterized by a mental illness.

Is my level of collecting not just an acceptable form of hoarding? Would that initial separation during the adoption process and subsequent events have contributed to my mild form of OCD?