So this evening I went to my storage unit with my stepdad to see how bad the damage was. The good news is that it wasn't as bad as I was imagining it could possibly be. The bad news is that there was damage, and I lost some dear treasures.
The biggest dollar value item that had to be discarded was my futon mattress. The least dollar value was a bunch of empty flat boxes. One box contained kitchen things wrapped up in sheets. The sheets will need to be washed, as well as the kitchen dishes, but it is fine.
One box that was on the floor contained four photo albums. Three of the four were fine - one I will need to transfer the photos into a new album. Everything else in the box was ok.
Then we get to the heartsick part.
One box was full of yearbooks from first grade through college. Many of them have a good number of signatures and messages. At least three of my elementary ones were a total loss, and most of the others may or may not be savable. I also had three scrapbooks - one of all my students I taught; one of my college years; and one of my senior year of high-school. Those *may* be savable, although transferred to a new album.
Then ... oh my heart breaks. Three boxes packed full of books. 
All the books that were on the bottom layer ... discarded. Most of the books on the second layer -- discarded. The books on the top layers, some were iffy, but most were okay.
I took pictures before we took everything to the dumpster (except for the yearbooks/scrapbooks).
As far as how this happened? We're not really sure. There is a crack in the foundation which looks like it goes along the general arc of the water line. But that could have already been there, and we just don't remember it.
The Storage place was very nice. They were willing to let me move my things into a new clean unit, but when I saw that the damage was less than I first thought, I decided not to do that.
Moral of today's story -- don't store anything you don't want damaged on the floor of a storage unit!
Bibliophille's Sadness (Lover of books)
September 30th, 2010 at 01:48 am
September 30th, 2010 at 01:56 am 1285811815
Luckily your life will go on and more books and memories will come into your life.
September 30th, 2010 at 01:58 am 1285811894
September 30th, 2010 at 05:52 am 1285825972
September 30th, 2010 at 12:32 pm 1285849979
Boy, if we lived closer I'd share of my books with you (having two girls 13 months apart we did lots of book reads with double the books). I have Ramona and a Charlotte's Web. Sorry to hear about the yearbooks. Glad it wasn't as bad as originally thought, though. Did they opt to give you a credit on some portion of the rent you pay?
September 30th, 2010 at 01:30 pm 1285853439
I don't think I'm going to look into replacing any of them yet. When I'm in my own place again and have a place to keep them out and not boxed away in storage, then I'll probably replace some of the biggest losses.
September 30th, 2010 at 06:06 pm 1285869967
I am so sorry!
September 30th, 2010 at 06:12 pm 1285870330