Every material object you own and/or cherish is in 1 room and that room is going to be destroyed. If someone is able to go into that room and rescue a subset of those items for you what would you have them get?

I asked a few friends this after my sister called me and told me they were evacuating their houston home because they were at a high risk of flooding and tornado damage. It's a vaguely interesting problem. I wound up having her take these items:

A carry-on filing cabinet with my personal records since 1998.

A cigar box full of pictures, newspaper clippings and a variety of other items of nostalgic value. All three of my major girlfriends make an appearance in that cigar box along with many high school trips, family events and personal successes. It's over-flowing and hasn't been fully closed in a good decade.

Thomas. Transitively important to me.

A yellow whistle. I've had this little yellow whistle since I was in the 7th grade. I aquired it during a Jazz Band trip to San Antonio. I originally kept it around because it represented a girl. Not much later it just offered a reminder of a really fun part of my life. I've had it only hours longer than the cigar box. The cigar box was called into service when I got the pictures from that very Jazz Band trip. I guess I started to care about life around middle school.

My journal. It contains scarce entries chronicling my life starting on February 1st, 1990. The damn thing is close to 16 years old and is still only about half full. I very rarely add entries to it anymore. When I do they are long and incredibly introspective.

So if that house gets flooded I lose all of my computer gear, speakers, bed, furniture, TV, books, and most of my clothing. Good Times. =-D