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# The Hoarder Next Door
- URL: https://www.dashhouse.com/2016623the-hoarder-next-door/
- Published: 2016-06-23T09:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2022-08-15T15:24:49.000Z
- Author: Darryl Dash
- Tags: Blog, Life, #DashHouseCom, #wp

The suite next to our condo is a small studio. The neighbors who lived there when we moved in fit the profile: young, professional, and private. That’s why I was surprised when the new guy moved in. He was older. He didn’t work. He was pleasant enough, but also awkward.

His place was a disaster.

![](https://dashhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/img3.jpg)

When I left my suite, I’d sometimes see into his. Laundry baskets were stacked from floor to ceiling. A trail of debris began at his door and continued down the hallway. I’d sometimes find his cart and his backpack outside his door.

We’ve always wanted to hold a floor party. We didn’t. We never invited our neighbor for a coffee. We’d make small talk in the hallway, but I never learned his name.

On Monday night, I found police officers in the hallway. More police arrived, and someone in a suit. Someone must have complained, I thought. The police must have called a social worker. But then I heard them talk about the coroner.

My neighbor died last weekend. They found his body on Monday. A police seal now secures his door.

My neighbor is gone. So is the man who was [killed by a falling tree limb](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/man-killed-trying-to-protect-wife-from-falling-tree-branch-in-trinity-bellwoods-park-1.3641688?ref=dashhouse.com) in a local park last Friday. So is the man who was [hit by a train](http://www.citynews.ca/2016/06/20/go-train-service-resumes-pedestrian-killed-near-exhibition/?ref=dashhouse.com) near me early on Monday morning. Death surrounds me this week, even in a young community like Liberty Village.

Nothing might have changed If I’d invited my neighbor for a coffee, but I would have known his name. I might have known his story. Now I’ll only know him as the hoarder next door. And that’s no way to know a neighbor.

![The Hoarder Next Door](https://www.dashhouse.com/content/images/v7/dashhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/img3.jpg)