Materialism was My Dad’s Clap Back at Poverty. Then He Died a Hoarder.

My father died leaving a great deal of earthly possessions behind. His story is similar to that of many Black Americans that sought to reckon with their impoverished past by living a life of excess.

A few of my dad’s invaluable items recovered from his home after he passed.

My dad grew up poor but died a hoarder. 

A 1940s baby, he earned $1 a day picking cotton, 99 cents of which went to his mother to support their rural Louisiana household. He often told stories about trying to save up 75 cents to buy a straw hat to keep cool while working. But since one penny could buy several pieces of candy in those days, his childhood sweet tooth ensured he’d never be able to buy that hat. 

The adult version of that dollar-a-day kid was a six-figure earner who never asked how much anything cost because if he wanted it, the price was inconsequential. He’d buy anything he’d ever wanted and things he’d likely never use simply because he could. My dad practiced no self-control, and I inherited his obsession with possessions, not just genetically, but because I also grew up poor.