The Big Cleanup I and II, 1990 and 2004
“ It’s Like Dancing on a Cloud with Bob and Doris” --- almost
50 years ago,
Bob and Doris donned the cover of this instructional LP. They were ballroom
dance teachers from Bayside, NY, social directors in the Catskills, and raised
three children - one being my mother.
In 1988, Bob closed the doors of his Bayside, NY garden apartment to all
family members (including his wife) and set up a post-retirement office
project. He made room-sized piles of Xerox copies, collected thousands of
shopping
bags, and bought an uncountable amount of pens, paper clips, and super-sized
rubber bands. Bob eventually found that he could no longer move around the
apartment, and temporarily left to stay with Doris in Florida. He gave his
keys
to his children, and four weeks and five dumpsters later, the apartment was
ready for Bob to move back in.
Eventually, the doors were locked again, and 14 years passed. This
previous April, however, mandated by an eviction notice from Bell Park Gardens’
maintenance, and a flood from Bob’s toilet, the family was forced to
go in.
The Big Cleanup is the story of three generations - dancing grandparents,
a hoarding grandfather, and the children and grandchildren who pick up the
baggage, boxes, and vinyl records that are left behind.
This is the remarkable tale of my grandfather. He was once a regional
administrator for the U.S. Department of Labor, as well as a ballroom dance
teacher.
With my grandmother, he created the vinyl LP "Dancing on a Cloud with
Bob
and Doris". Upon Bob's retirement from his administrative position with
the
government, he began to excessively shop and stuff the insides of his apartment.
The interiors that he shared with my grandmother for 40-something years
became unlivable, as he stocked them with Xerox copies of insurance policies,
boxes
of Kleenex, cakes of Dove soap, and Valentine's Day candy on sale from Duane
Reade. He also had a penchant for office supplies - pens, reams of paper,
paper clips, and super-sized rubber bands. Some say Bob is a "pack rat",
his
behavior a result of growing up in the Great Depression. Others analyze his
behavior from a mental health perspective: categorically Bob could be what
is
called a "compulsive hoarder".
My grandmother, Doris, eventually moved down to Florida, leaving Bob in their
Bayside, NY apartment. The two never divorced (they still share a checking
account), but Doris couldn't continue to live amidst Bob's growing mounds.
Once Doris left, Bob refused to allow any family members into his home. He
too
eventually left for Florida for a short stay, leaving enough time to enable
outsiders to "straighten up" his apartment. In 1990, Bob's children
and
grandchildren were called upon to complete this task. Four weeks and five
dumpsters
later, the job was done. The kids called this task, "The Big Cleanup",
and
documented the process with a video camera. When Bob returned from Florida,
the
family was overjoyed and celebrated with music played on a rediscovered piano.
As time passed, Bo began to again refuse family visits. He preferred to meet
his children and grandchildren at Applebee's where he was on a first-name
basis with all of the staff, whom he called his "dance partners".
This past
spring, almost 15 years after the first “Big Cleanup”, Bob's son
received an
urgent call from Bell Park Gardens, the housing development where Bob lived.
Water was flooding Bob's downstairs neighbor, and he refused to let maintenance
in
to repair the plumbing problem. After much coaxing and threatening, Bob
agreed that the workers could come in to repair the damage. He warned the
workers
that this was a very inconvenient time; that he was in the middle of
" cleaning up the place". The workers walked into Bob’s apartment
and scurried out
immediately. They called their supervisor who promptly showed up with a digital
camera and an eviction warning. Bob (and his family) once again had 30 days
to clean the place up. A video was made documenting this process, which has
since been titled "The Big Cleanup II".
The Big Cleanup is a site visit to Bell Park Gardens, the home where Bob and
Doris lived and where my mother, aunt, and uncle grew up. It is an
exploration into my matriarchal lineage - those who "Danced on Clouds",
aspired to a
Jewish white-collarism, and a government employee who stacked close to 1,262
reams of multicolored office paper. Upon a own spinning vinyl, "Dancing
on a
Cloud", my grandparents follow the steps of a waltz. They leave behind
clouds
that are heavy with the moisture of tears and laughter, as well as the sweat
of a
displaced elderly man and his Sisyphian children. The clouds have as much
mass as piles as office supplies, yet are as illusory as ballroom dancing
and
memories.
-by Danielle Abrams
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