Are our possessions, our things, our stuff a measuring stick for who we are? Can a moldy old box of polyester pants and kindergarten drawings tell our story after we're long gone? When Flannery Parker's mother died, she challenged her only daughter to find her "self." But what does that really mean? Armed only with her mother's tattered copy of LEAVES OF GRASS, Flan lets Walt Whitman be her guide as she digs through other people's lost treasures after winning them at self-storage auctions. A broken mirror here, a stash of old baby clothes there, and finally a box painted with bright colors and swirls of hope that only contains a remnant of paper with the word "Yes."

With only that small word to drive her, Flan sets out to find what makes her say "Yes." She isn't sure it's her husband, who only pretends to work on his thesis while watching soap operas and smoking pot instead of helping her watch their children. Their house and neighborhood might be a "Yes," filled with the rich scent of spices coming from the windows of all the multi-ethnic kitchens on her block. Her next door neighbors inspire her curiosity: they are recent transplants from Afghanistan in a post 9/11 America. The husband is rarely seen outside the house, while his wife makes hurried runs to the market in a full burqa despite the sweltering summer heat. Could they be the answer to her "Yes"question?

A clever story wrapped inside Whitman's soothing and seductive poetry, Gayle Brandeis showcases a less than perfect mother who struggles to do the best she can for her family while still trying to maintain a semblance of self. With racial tensions running high and the politics of a nation under fire banging on everyone's front door, SELF STORAGE reminds us that love, faith and courage comes in all sorts of packages. Even those that simply say "Yes."