The Tale of the First Generation Furby...

I can't even recall the year, though I'm guessing it was about 10 years ago... Furby was introduced to the world, and it was a HUGE hit when it came to every parent wanting this thing for their kids. Prices went sky high, demand was out of this world...

So, I got my hands on one. For $99, from eToys.com (now defunct, I think). I caught so much shit for buying it from F, Sr. But I bought it anyway, and for years whenever we moved, it was still in its eToys.com box, just being the good little stowaway moneymaker I assumed it would be.

I go to Nashville, and clear out my storage unit, assuming that I'm going to not have any of my things left... and tada... look what I see:

The darn Furby, first generation, still in the original packaging survived the FIRE! I took a picture merely with the intent of sending this to F, Sr. and joking that it was still a hot commodity....

Fast forward to today. I've emptied most of the car out (except for some last minute things) and the Furby was residing in the basement. All the kids had seen it, and I told them that it was something special to me and to not touch it.

That's like telling a kid to please not touch any of the candy at Halloween, apparently.

So... I had to go to Walmart today to pay a bill and pick up some quick essentials. I had the neighborhood kids in and out all day, so I asked my neighbor's daughter if she minded sitting with the crew while I ran out real quick. No problem.

I walk back into the house, and she and her friend were on the front porch, so they left before I walked in... and M, my five year old imp, comes toward me saying, "Mom! Look what I have!", holding none other than that precious Furby in her hand, OUT of the box.

When I flip out, yes, I flipped out. I find out that she had an accomplice in this... J, my NINE year old, CUT the box open for her.... I see the box destroyed on the dining room table.

I lined up all three here:

So, the tale of the First Generation Furby goes like this... It was able to survive the trek from eToys.com warehouse to my first apartment, then my second, then my first house, then my second house, then my condo in Nashville, then to my storage unit, managed to survive a fire in the storage unit, rode home with me from TN to PA, then landed in my basement... and finally, met its match with my five year old daughter.

The furby was able to survive a fire, but unable to survive.... my children.

Sigh. There goes the profit on that one. We just can't have nice things!

I want to cry.

Just got a call that my Public Storage unit was affected by a fire. There is obviously some sort of arson or something because it's the second time in three days that there was a fire at that storage location.

I had ALL my kids pictures/albums/my personal albums from when I was a kid, things my grandparents left me that I couldn't bring with me when I had to come back to PA that meant something to me, my grandma's chair (the one I gave birth to Madelyn leaning on)... my sewing machine/embroidery machine. Three computers that had business information/files/pictures on them. Furniture. Art...

It was a storage unit that I had packed tightly with my stuff that I held dear.

I don't know what the extent of the damage is... and there's no way to get access to the location yet anyway. Not that it would help much, with me being in Pennsylvania. I do want to see just what I could possibly salvage, if anything.

Oh... gosh. :(

What's weirder is that I dreamt of a fire there several times, and that was what was making my mind up to go and get some of the kids stuff out of there at New Years... and to really just get what I could, as well as the computers because they had more pictures.
Obviously, I'm not sure what, if anything survived, but I really hope and pray that I can at least salvage some of it.

I can't believe I dreamt it and then it happened. They had a smaller fire at the office part earlier in the week, which is why when they called, I was like, see... all the more reason for me to go down there and get the special stuff... and I had some fears eased... and then the call today, that they think someone set the fire.

Nashville Fire Department is looking into it... I just wish I could see pictures of the unit building... find out where the fire started, etc... maybe by the Grace of God, my unit wasn't horribly affected??? I can only pray.

We're talking about everything I owned in that storage unit... except for clothes. That's what I came to PA with... so everything that was my life- was in that storage unit.
Sigh....

When will the gut punches end?