The truth about secrets
Growing up, I had a closely guarded secret. Apparently, my whole extended family knew the truth, but none of my friends knew what the inside of my home looked like. My friends thought my mom was cool. They had no idea that I spent most of my time wondering if I should love her or hate her. I was very good at keeping my secret--no, our secret. Last fall, in 2009, I chose to share my secret. It was a tough decision--one rooted in love, out of desire to get help for something I could not fix on my own. I faced heavy anxiety as I boarded a plane to go bare my secrets--my family's dirty laundry-- before a film crew knowing that ultimately the revelation would be seen by millions of strangers. More terrifying was knowing that hundreds of people who've known me over the years would also possibly see the door opened to my "dirty little secret." It has been eight months since we filmed the episode for "Hoarders." I have been contacted by many people via the internet-