Here's the bottom line:
I updated to OSX 10.8.3 while the VM was running. IMHO, that's what broke the VM. The VMDK was corrupted and beyond repair. Luckily, I had a Time Machine/Time Capsule backup of the VM and was able to use it.
A word of advice: Always share your files with your host (Mac). In so doing your documents will be safe, even if your VM crashes and you have no backup. Try to not be in the latter situation.